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Talkspace class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Naomi Weizman has filed a class action lawsuit against Talkspace Inc.
- Why: Talkspace allegedly accepts new patients even when it has insufficient therapists to meet their mental health care needs.
- Where: The Talkspace class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
Talkspace Inc. deceives consumers into believing the virtual therapy company has sufficient therapists in its network to meet demand and that new patients will promptly be matched with a suitable therapist, according to a class action lawsuit filed March 1 in California federal court.
However, plaintiff Naomi Weizman says Talkspace continues to accept new patients even when there are no suitable therapists available to treat them.
Talkspace class action says company accepts new patients even when it cannot meet mental health treatment needs
Weizman notes that traditional psychology or psychiatry practices turn away potential patients or put them on a waitlist when they are too busy.
“But Talkspace — which was founded by two individuals that held no medical licenses and had no experience working in the healthcare sector — bears no resemblance to a traditional therapy practice,” the Talkspace class action lawsuit states.
“Instead of sacrificing growth and profit by turning away new patients, Talkspace continued to accept new patients even when there are no therapists available to treat them,” the class action lawsuit continues.
Even though Talkspace reportedly promises that new patients will be matched with a therapist qualified to meet their stated therapeutic needs within 48 hours, Weizman alleges many new patients are forced to wait weeks for a therapist and even then they may be matched with incompatible Talkspace therapists.
Matching patients with unsuitable or incompatible therapists endangers patients who have put their trust in Talkspace to treat their mental health, Weizman asserts.
Plaintiff: Patients automatically enrolled in subscription plan even when Talkspace therapists are unavailable, unsuitable
Once patients are matched with a therapist, Talkspace enrolls them in a recurring subscription plan without their permission, the Talkspace class action lawsuit alleges.
Talkspace allegedly enrolls new patients into these recurring plans even when therapists are unsuitable for their needs or unavailable to schedule therapy sessions for which the patient has already paid.
“To make matters worse, Talkspace forces its patients to forfeit all paid-for therapy sessions that are not used within 30 days — even when their assigned therapist has no availability during that time frame,” Weizman says.
Thousands of patients reportedly complained about this practice on the Better Business Bureau platform.
Weizman seeks an injunction prohibiting Talkspace from continuing to engage in its allegedly unfair and unlawful business practices.
Talk therapy apps including Talkspace have recently come under scrutiny over data privacy concerns.
What do you think of the allegations in this Talkspace class action lawsuit? Join the discussion in the comments.
Weizman is represented by Rafey S. Balabanian of Edelson PC.
The Talkspace therapists class action lawsuit is Naomi Weizman, et al. v. Talkspace Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-00912-VKD, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.
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One thought on Talkspace class action claims company does not have enough therapists to meet demand
I agree with the complaint. Talk space badgers us Therapists to get 30 billable hours a week. I was out on surgery and my hours dropped. I was going to resign August 31st of this year. My resignation was approved for August 31st. Wednesday 2 days ago I was called into a meeting and told to resign July 31st because of my productivity. I have just returned back to work from surgery. Why am I telling you this because talk space is an awful company they regulation and to be shut down