PSA – Insider reviews: Bellamoore part II

Bellamoore Part I.: http://myrollindanielexperience.blogspot.com/2011/06/bellamoore-on-mmh-working-for-dr-raffi.html

In the time since I found out who Bellamoore is, the behind-the-scenes process has been slow and appears to be at a standstill.  In the meantime, I think people should be informed of Bellamoore’s connections since some of her posts are still online, and that insider reviews happen in medicine. The latter part of this post describes my personal experience with this and what I feel is the biggest red flag for “insider rating”: how the insider attacks the unhappy patient.


Some people don’t believe it, but insider reviews really do happen in medicine.

In medicine, it is critical to view online reviews with a skeptical eye, given the enormous financial, physical, and emotional costs that a person can encounter in this field.

In particular, plastic surgery patients may be vulnerable to misleading online reviews if the patients do not have anyone they can comfortably ask for a referral – such as a family member, friend, or personal doctor.

As if to illustrate this, two common topics on plastic surgery message boards are variations of “what about Dr. _____?” and “who is a good plastic surgeon in my area?” So people are looking online for surgeons in this field.

With 13.8 million surgical and non-invasive cosmetic surgery procedures in 2011 alone (http://www.plasticsurgery.org/news-and-resources/2011-statistics-.html ), this suggests there are many people who may be influenced by glowing online reviews from writers who are not 100% up front.

On a larger scale, the integrity of online reviews is a big issue.  In a study supported by Google and the National Science Foundation, researchers at Cornell University developed an algorithm to spot fake reviews: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/technology/finding-fake-reviews-online.html  In addition, sites such as Yelp.com and RateMDs.com already have their own screening algorithms:

However, no screening software is perfect, so people should stay skeptical.

How can people try to spot ‘off’ reviews themselves?

The article at http://consumerist.com/2010/04/how-you-spot-fake-online-reviews.html  has a lot of useful tips on spotting iffy reviews. A TIME writer recently posted an article with a lot of useful links at: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/02/03/9-reasons-why-you-shouldnt-trust-online-reviews/  Please see my post about “Helping Others” for other red flags, as well: http://myrollindanielexperience.blogspot.com/2012/01/helping-others.html 

Another way to learn to spot “insider rating” is to look at other examples of it:

• In 2011, a Reddit user found a gaming company engineer rating his company’s game with perfect scores: http://redd.it/g3td7  (840 comments)  
• A Wall Street Journal blog entry in 2009 showed how one man discovered a marketing employee reviewing her company’s products on Amazon.com: http://blogs.wsj.com/wallet/2009/07/09/delonghis-strange-brew-tracking-down-fake-amazon-raves/ 
• In December, 2011, Nokia and Microsoft employees were identified by their IP addresses after they defended a new Nokia/Microsoft phone: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/dec/19/nokia-microsoft-lumia-comments  

My experience with “insider rating”

My personal experience with insider rating started soon after I began posting in 2010. Bellamoore appeared online around that time with a glowing account of her rhinoplasty with Dr. Rollin Daniel. Bellamoore spent about a year apparently trying to counteract me by nearly copying my blog name and taking little pot shots at me, all the while describing an excellent rhinoplasty experience with Dr. Daniel through her blog, message board posts, and multiple reviews on rating sites.

Bellmoore’s blog was online for about 11 months. Many of her glowing posts were online for nearly two years, accumulating almost 10,000 views on MakeMeHeal.com (MMH) alone. Some of her reviews are still online to this day without any mention of her connections.


The biggest red flag for insider reviews

Bellamoore’s MMH posts included a couple of slams at me, like here: http://messageboards.makemeheal.com/rhinoplasty/had-pre-with-rollin-daniel-t137321.html

This was similar to what happened in the Lifestyle Lift case, where people who criticized LL were attacked: http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/attorney-general-cuomo-secures-settlement-plastic-surgery-franchise-flooded-internet  “Employees also attacked legitimate message board posters who criticized Lifestyle Lift...”

I think this is the biggest red flag for insider reviewing – attacks on the unhappy patient. Why would a genuinely happy patient attack one who was hurt? I would think they would feel more like, “Whew, I’m glad I was there on a good day, and that wasn’t me.” This has generally been my experience with pleased Dr. Daniel patients, as well.


So how was Bellamoore an “insider?”

During her time posting, the person shown in the Bellamoore blog worked in an office of plastic surgeons in Newport Beach. The office is in the building next to Dr. Daniel’s.

A website registered before Bellamoore’s final MMH posts stated that “[her real first name] has been the... technician of choice for many of the leading plastic surgeons in Newport Beach and Beverly Hills,” and listed that office’s address as well as what appeared to be her personal phone number. 


This site has been deleted.


One the surgeons also linked to that Newport Beach office during that time was the one who observed my revision rhinoplasty with Dr. Daniel – Dr. Raffi Hovsepian. Dr. Hovsepian also did a fellowship under Dr. Daniel at some point, according to his CV posted here: link.

According to a now-missing post on Dr. Daniel’s Facebook, observations of his surgeries are routine:

Dr. Hovsepian vehemently denies involvement with the Bellamoore blog.  He was instrumental in getting it deleted, according to his attorney.

Efforts to reach Dr. Daniel through his attorneys were unsuccessful.

Bellamoore was different from fake reviews and medical astroturfing because she was a real patient. However, it is hard for me to imagine she was completely unbiased when she attacked me and named her blog nearly the same as mine.

The knowledge of where she worked would affect the perception of her posts as others wrote:

“Why is there no response from Bellamoore? Some clarification/explanation is needed or readers will have grave doubts,no ?” – Gloss, http://messageboards.makemeheal.com/rhinoplasty/had-pre-with-rollin-daniel-t137321.html , July 1, 2011 [thread partially deleted in April 2012].

“I am especially concerned with the accusations of his staff writing reviews for [Doctor Daniel]. ... seems to think that a poster by the name Bellamoore is secretly one of his staff members or something..."– Hottmama3, http://messageboards.makemeheal.com/rhinoplasty/rollin-daniel-t157196.html  , March 8, 2012 [thread deleted].

Indeed, this type of affiliation is the focus of the second sentence of the MakeMeHeal.com terms of use:

"Information and services are being provided on the understanding that the ... members... of Make Me Heal are not in any way affiliated to any surgeons and doctors.” http://www.makemeheal.com/mmh/termsofuse.vm

Bellamoore / Kourtneymoore sites that are still online

Most importantly, the following sites are still online to this day, accumulating page views without mention of the authors’ connections at this time:

1. http://www.drrollindaniel.com/photogallery/patient-experiences-patient-blogs-5681/case-1-28589 [update: this part of drrollindaniel.com was removed sometime in July, 2012.]

2. http://www.makemeheal.com/directory/viewfullreviewprem.php?review_id=4330
Bellamoore’s 10/10-star review of Dr. Daniel.

3. http://www.makemeheal.com/directory/viewfullreview.php?review_id=4222
Bellamoore’s 10/10-star review of Dr. Hovsepian, which predated many of her posts about Dr. Daniel.

4. http://doctorbase.com/blog/rdaniel/reviews-ratings  [update: on July 12, 2012, this rating was removed]
5/5-star rating on June 16, 2011 by “Bella Moore.” This review is nearly identical to the September 27, 2011 Yelp review by “Bella M” that was at http://www.yelp.com/filtered_reviews/gUnErlVUKW4dNESvilP3WA (review removed by Yelp).

5. http://extraordinarydrraffihovsepian.blogspot.com/
Her sister’s blog; posted by “Kourtneymoore” on MMH. Around the time of this blog’s December 7, 2011 post, Bellamoore was working as Dr. Hovsepian’s surgery coordinator.



Screen capture of http://www.blogger.com/profile/04663915626582852060  on 6/17/2011. “MyRollinDanielMDexperience” was the name of the Bellamoore blog, which started after mine.



My blog allows comments for anyone who wants to discuss this. The doctors, their office coworkers, and staff members are welcome to comment here.

Helping others

This post repeats a lot of what I have posted on the Internet, outside of this blog. I’ve been meaning to add this here for a while. I’m not going to pretend I’m some kind of expert on any of this; it’s just based on what I have seen and experienced.



Click “read more” to continue...

Bellamoore on MMH - working with Dr. Raffi Hovsepian

I believe I found out that someone working with plastic surgeon(s) had created a blog about a year ago in July, 2010 named

http://myrollindanielmdexperience.blogspot.com/

i.e., extremely similar in name to this blog. This blog was posted several times on the Make Me Heal rhinoplasty board by a poster with the username Bellamoore. 


If I was right, I think it is odd that Bellamoore posted for a whole year on Make Me Heal, heavily promoting Dr. Daniel in nearly every post, without mentioning her affiliation. This other blog was also posted on two doctor ratings sites that I am aware of: RateMDs.com and the doctor ratings section of Make Me Heal.


Update 7/25/12: I am restoring the title of this post since the behind the scenes process is apparently at a standstill.  It turned out Bellamoore is a licensed cosmetologist who worked in the same office as Dr. Raffi Hovsepian, the other plastic surgeon who observed my revision with Dr. Daniel.  The office is in the building next to Dr. Daniel's in Newport Beach and other plastic surgeons worked there as well.

This RateMDs.com review was removed around August 28, 2011 after it had been up for over a year.

-> Dr. Hovsepian vehemently denies involvement with the Bellamoore blog.  He was instrumental in getting it deleted, according to his attorney.    

Please see my follow up post on this topic at http://myrollindanielexperience.blogspot.com/2012/06/psa-insider-reviews-bellamoore-part-ii.html   Bellamoore is a good example of "insider rating," which is something PS patients should be aware of when reading reviews.

The other surgeon, consent forms, and trust

Pics:http://www.flickr.com/photos/53706952@N04/

http://s776.photobucket.com/home/m130nose


Why did things go like they did in my case with this great surgeon? I wish I knew.

-assistants and observers. The consent form I signed at Dr. Rollin Daniel’s allowed for assistants and observers. I found out the name of the other surgeon who was there several months afterwards.

The Newport Beach Surgery Center and this doctor have both assured me that he or she only observed my procedure so as to learn from a great surgeon. UC Irvine has observerships so that new doctors can learn from experienced ones. They also said something about UCI PS residents working at the NBSC. Maybe I am not understanding something, because I thought the NBSC was private.

[edited 7/26-28/10 per request. But did the presence of the other doctor affect things? Like, if they suspected I might cancel based on all my preop calls to the office, is that why the thing with Dr Topkis happened, so they wouldn't lose face? Was there a fee involved? Why did somebody say, "why is it breathing like that?" as I came around?]


- secondary nasal surgery form: the line about paying over and over again. It’s at the bottom of the form, under “third.” Dr Daniel told me before the primary that I would only pay once. So, after I had signed that form saying I was financially responsible for “any subsequent surgery,” (and was fool enough to pay another $3k) what would his financial incentive be to do a good job?


-the word “possible”. The description of my surgeries starts off, cosmetic/ functional septorhinoplasty with possible this possible that, etc. At my revision preop Dr Daniel stated directly to me that he would do a certain thing… and then it didn’t happen.

He said to my face, “as far as your turbinates, I’m going to go ahead and outfracture those”. But the form said that was possible. And it didn’t get done. I think I am up to 3 doctors now who have confirmed this.

That was supposed to be the main goal of my revision, btw, to fix my breathing. My breathing still sucks. I sit here sometimes pulling sideways on my cheek to open my breathing. This is called the “Cottle sign,” and when I said that to Dr Daniel he said, “don’t know too much.”

This is an amazingly talented, world-renowned plastic surgeon, and I truly hope that others have a better experience than I did. As I posted on MMH, he has had thousands of happy patients, and I wish I could have been one of them.

RateMDs ratings - Drs. Daniel and Topkis

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/38174/Dr-Rollin-K.-Daniel-NEWPORT-BEACH-CA.html

1 3 1 1

"Dr. Daniel did my primary and revision. Another surgeon was at my revision who I never met, but UCI has a program to allow observers at NBSC. Dr Daniel didn’t talk to me after the 45-minute revision. He didn’t outfracture my turbinates like he said he would at the revision preop. I STILL have the breathing problem from the primary. And I paid another $3k! See my review for Dr Jeff Topkis. I wish I had run like 12/4 did. I am editing this as I learn more about what happened to me. I just want to know why they did what they did.
Pics: http://s776.photobucket.com/home/m130nose
Blog: http://myrollindanielexperience.blogspot.com/"


[edited after I spoke to the other doctor and UCI]


http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/118145/Dr-Jeff-Topkis-NEWPORT-BEACH-CA.html

3 3 1 1

"Watch him carefully. I saw Dr. Topkis fuss with my IV pole, running a syringe barrel along the palm of his left hand (back of his hand to the nurses, palm towards me) with the tip of his middle finger on the pole and inject something in the side of my tube. It could have been Versed. This was BEFORE I could talk to Dr Rollin Daniel, and I was thinking of cancelling. I saw Topkis look around, and when the nurse Denise returned he snapped at her to ask if she’d run the antibiotics when a bubble of air went into me. I saw him take the syringe off which probably caused the bubble, then he put it back on. I wish I could have cancelled and left, but I wasn’t aware enough. I don’t know if Daniel told him to do this. I had wanted Dr Soni again, but Amy at Dr Daniel’s office discouraged me from requesting her. Lesson learned: don’t leave anything major to discuss on surgery day. Also don’t let T pull the gown off one arm before starting the IV unless you are an exhibitionist- m130"

Two tiers and red flags

Pics: http://s776.photobucket.com/home/m130nose



It SEEMS to me that Dr Rollin Daniel has two tiers of service: some people get his A game, which can be the best there is, and other people don’t. Guess which category I was in. So here are what I THINK are red flags I had with him:

- him or his staff being rude. You’ll notice his happy patients are, for the most part, perplexed when they hear about him being mean. Some of his happy patients call him “direct.” “Your nose would work in Oklahoma!” “You have to live with it!” “How tall are you?” (asked several times, I believe to shut me up) “Are you sure you have the same parents?” (said about my sister). Judy holding the check up to my face and saying, “is this good?” It’s probably better to sass back at him rather than taking it like I did.

- his office staff asking me, “have any children?" "are you working, [name]?" at the revision preop, right at the end. As I found out later, this is a good gauge for someone’s value in a lawsuit, because the first question attorneys ask is, “what are your economic damages?” MAJOR, major red flag.

-him deliberately taking a smiling photo of me. This was after I figured out the “goal” problem, so I don’t know if they were trying to get “proof” I wasn’t upset. To get the smile, Dr Daniel was super nice to me for the first time at that visit, and made a funny comment about camera technology since his regular camera was broken.

- not taking pictures of the side where he was going to do work.

- office staff distracting me with conversation as I tried to read and sign the forms (I’ll talk about this more when I talk about his consent forms).

- him (I believe; he denied it) getting my “goal” wrong, but there’s no way to figure this out until the 1-year appointment when he asks point blank, “do you think you look better? Do you think [your goal was reached]?” The best thing to do would be to ask what he has down as your goal ASAP, because that is what he will start each postop visit with. “Oh, you look [like you reached your goal].” His office girls ask you this when you first call, but they don’t use the word “goal.” I believe they wrote down something that I never said, and misinterpreted what I DID say, which screwed everything up.

I believe they got my “goal” wrong which really led to all of this, because if I had had that goal it would have been weird and “borderline” as he said. He said my defect was small compared to my concern, and that I was borderline, and showed me a little chart he drew. He showed it to my sister at the next pre-op appointment as well.

-him calling me “borderline”. As I found out later, this is a MEGA bad term in medicine. It basically means NUTS. At the time, I thought it just meant I was OK looking enough, and a nose job wouldn’t do too much. I seriously shake my head at how ignorant and trusting I was. Why would he accept a patient who truly was borderline?

-being asked to draw my own picture. I’m not actually sure if there is a correlation here. But HE should draw your picture. He’s the pro, not you.

- he seemed very reluctant to fix the problems from the primary. At my one year appointment, he had those blue hair clips on me for photos when I piped up about my breathing problem from the primary. He took a look inside my nose and said, “I really wish I hadn’t looked in there.” This should have been a big clue to me that he was not happy about going in there again.

-he asked me for another large fee for the revision. He told me before the primary that I would only pay once. He also asked if I had insurance. I paid an extra $3k because I thought it would make him finally be “nice” to me and do a good job. Geez, how stupid was I.

Actually, this all is like a public service to HIM, so he only works on patients he likes. I know he turns people away, so this could be a self-screening thing for other “borderline” patients.

As I posted on MMH, I went to him because I wanted a good result. I never thought I'd be in this situation, because I know how great he was. It is not a fun place to be. :-(

Why?

Let me first say that before I figured out what happened at my revision, I felt Dr. Rollin Daniel was a great surgeon. I still think he is great for some people. I'm just not one of them.

This is more of a placeholder than anything else. I did not have a good experience or outcome. If I ever post photos, they will be at http://s776.photobucket.com/home/m130nose

My username on Make Me Heal was m130, if you want to look for my posts. There was a glitch where I couldn't log in and thought I had been banned. It looks like I changed my username to ml30 (with an L).

Coincidentally, Dr. Daniel started advertising on MMH at the same time (late June, 2010), when to my knowledge he had never advertised anywhere before in his long career.

I also posted on Miss J's forum, and on RateMDs with the same username; mostly comments to Dr. Daniel's ratings.

The situation is unfortunate. I would much rather have gone on with my life in peace.