Senior Cardiologist: Defamatory Google Reviews & News Article Removed

In April 2024, a former employee — terminated for misconduct — published three detailed Google reviews under three different fictitious patient accounts. The reviews alleged medical negligence causing patient death, falsely cited a "police complaint filed," and included fabricated medical record numbers. Within 72 hours, a regional news portal republished the allegations as a news article without editorial verification. The client's appointment bookings dropped 60% within the first week. Two referring hospitals informally placed his clinic on hold pending "inquiry." The content was indexed prominently — the second Google result for his name.

The partner law firm assessed three grounds simultaneously: (1) defamation under IPC 499/500 (the law in force in April 2024, now BNS s.356), since the allegations were demonstrably false and specifically attributed; (2) a formal complaint to Google under the IT Act Section 79 framework and the IT Rules 2021 grievance process; and (3) a cease-and-desist to the news portal citing violation of Press Council norms and demand for retraction under IT Rules 2021. We served a formal notice on Google's Grievance Officer under IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021, attaching documentary proof that the "patient accounts" did not correspond to any real patient in the clinic's records, and that the incident dates cited did not match any clinical record or hospital admission. We simultaneously lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police Cyber Cell to put the matter on record.

Google acted within 36 hours of receiving the formal IT Act notice — all three reviews were removed. The news portal issued a formal retraction and removed the article within Day 5. The de-index from Google Search was confirmed on Day 11. The former employee was served a legal notice; the matter is under civil defamation proceedings. The client's referring hospital relationships were restored within three weeks upon presentation of the removal confirmations. Booking volumes normalised within 30 days.