a fake doctor was able to practice for several weeks on the platform

This end of summer is decidedly eventful at Doctolib. A few days ago, the medical appointment booking platform was the target of criticism from doctors and patients who accused it of referencing naturopaths – a discipline with no medical basis – including some with very controversial profiles. Doctolib has since suspended 17 accounts and promised”to undertake substantive work” with his medical committee, the orders (including doctors) and health professionals.

>> Doctolib: accused of promoting alternative medicine practitioners, the platform defends itself

According them information from the investigation unit of Radio France, this time it is not about esoteric disciplines, but about fake doctors who were registered on the platform. The Montpellier prosecutor’s office opened an investigation in July for “illegal exercise of the medicine” against two crooks who pretended to be psychiatrists. The deception was discovered thanks to a patient, who denounced the facts and filed a complaint.

This patient, Carole R., is the mother of two children aged 10 and 11. They have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (called ADHD) and are treated with the drug Ritalin. The prescription for this treatment intended to regulate the pathological hyperactivity of certain children must be renewed every 28 days. However, then June 11, Carole’s usual psychiatrist is in leave: she makes an appointment on Doctolib with a certain David Cantatwhose profile specifies the name of her replacement, Laura Smith.

The practitioner has many availabilities: Carole therefore makes an appointment for June 18 for a teleconsultation which will be provided by her replacement.

On the day of the remote meeting, Carole connects to the platform. “Thirty minutes before the consultation, I had received a link from Doctolib inviting me to join the virtual waiting roomexplains the mother. I click on it but the connection is bad. I tried several times without success”she continues.

“Finally Dr. Laura Smith calls me on my cell phone, tells me that she can’t connect either and that we are going to do the consultation on Whatsapp”, explains Carol. On the application, the mother of the family turns on her camera, but not Doctor Smith, who claims that his does not work. “At that moment, I have a first alert, confides Carolebut as I really need this prescription and I trust Doctolib, I decide to continue”.

A consultation follows, which Carole describes as “lunar”: “The pathology of my children is called ADHD. So I spoke to her with this abbreviation but I could see that she did not understand”. The teleconsultation ends. If Dr. Smith indicates that she will send the prescription to Doctolib’s secure messaging service, Carole will never receive the document for her children. On the other hand, the “psychiatrist” sends him a manifestly false care sheet.

“I’m mostly worried about my children’s medical records.”

Carole.R, victim of a fake doctor on Doctolib

at franceinfo

Suspicious, the mother decides to oppose on her bank card so that the amount of the consultation is not debited to her. “I am especially worried about my children’s medical records, which I had sent before the consultation via Doctolib to this Laura Smith”, she tells us. His children come under the MDPH (Departmental House for the Disabled), they are eligible for school support and financial aid.

>> SURVEY. Doctolib: some medical data is not fully protected

Carole reported the incident to Doctolib on June 21, 2022, and immediately filed a complaint with the Montpellier prosecutor’s office. She also alerts her usual psychiatrist, Doctor P., who quickly realizes that she has been dealing with a fake doctor. The practitioner, seeing that the profile of Doctor Cantat and Laura Smith is still online, also decides to contact the platform.

Doctolib then responds (see below) that the registration procedure “starts first with an identity check. Then a period of 15 days is granted to health professionals to receive the supporting documents as part of a verification of the right to practice”. The “doctors” David Cantat and Laura Smith were therefore able to give consultations via Doctolib while they were “installing” on the platform.

This case challenged the Departmental Council of the Order of Physicians of Hérault, which also filed a complaint in Montpellier. “Obviously, no due diligence was undertaken,” explains the president of the departmental council, doctor Philippe Cathala. “The least you could do is check before registering. [sur Doctolib, NDLR]“.

When questioned, Doctolib recognizes this “15 day period” during which a doctor can use the platform without his right to practice having been verified. But Doctolib adds: “Since we became aware of this case, we have been working to strengthen our screening procedures so that no practitioner can use our services until their identity and right to practice have been verified”.

The National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM) recalls that there is a simple way to know if a doctor has the right to practice. All practitioners are referenced on the CNOM website via, in particular their RPPS number, a registration number given to each doctor at the start of their career. Without this number, a doctor does not have the right to practice.

When questioned, Doctolib confirms this affair but replies that since it became aware of it, the controls have been reinforced. Thursday, August 25, 2022Doctolib issued a press release on the “reinforcement of verification procedures for referenced professionals“, indicating that, from now on, a doctor can no longer offer consultations on the platform before his right to practice has been verified.

Doctolib strengthens its verification procedures for professionals referenced on its site pic.twitter.com/szCmrggsvk

— Doctolib (@doctolib) August 25, 2022

Doctolib also wants to clarify the content”records of unregulated practitioners, explicitly mentioning that they are not health professionals”. The latter represent 3% of the practitioners present on the platform, and 0.3% of the appointments made.