Best Doctors unsolicited faxes $738K class action settlement

Best Doctors agreed to pay over $738,000 to resolve lawsuit claims it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) with unsolicited fax advertisements.

The settlement benefits consumers and entities who received one or more unsolicited faxes from Best Doctors between May 14, 2014, and June 17, 2019, advertising the company’s database inclusion despite not giving consent. Best Doctors reportedly sent 13,425 faxes to 7,772 entities during this period.

Best Doctors is a telehealth company that helps answer medical questions and connect patients to specialists. The Best Doctors database includes 50,000 specialists in 450 specialties and subspecialties. 

According to a 2018 class action lawsuit, Best Doctors sent illegal faxes to doctors offices in order to confirm their inclusion in the “Best Doctors in America” list. In reality, these messages were a cover to sell Best Doctors merchandise to doctors and increase their network of physicians, the plaintiffs contend. The plaintiffs say they did not consent to receive these telemarketing messages from Best Doctors.

The Best Doctors class action lawsuit claims the unsolicited telemarketing faxes violated the federal TCPA.

According to the plaintiffs, the faxes were sent despite the doctors having no business relationship with Best Doctors, the recipients never giving consent to receive these faxes and Best Doctors failing to provide required opt-out notices — all of which are required under TCPA.

“As such, [Best Doctor’s] fax advertisements violated [TCPA] and caused Plaintiff and putative members of the Class to suffer actual harm, including the aggravation and nuisance of receiving such faxes, the loss of use of their fax machines during the receipt of such faxes, and increased labor expenses,” the TCPA class action lawsuit contends.

The TCPA allows for affected consumers to claim up to $1,500 per violation in a court ruling. The class action lawsuit sought these and other damages from Best Doctors for the alleged illegal faxes.

Best Doctors hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing but agreed to pay $738,375 to resolve these allegations.

Under the terms of the settlement, class members can receive a cash payment.

Each class member will receive a proportional share of the net settlement fund based on the number of fax messages they received. Class members who received several faxes will receive a larger share of the settlement fund than class members who received only one fax. Exact payments will vary.

The deadline for exclusion and objection is Sept. 26, 2022.

The final approval hearing for the Best Doctors settlement is scheduled for Oct. 27, 2022.

No claim form is required to benefit from the settlement. Class members who do not exclude themselves will automatically receive a settlement payment.

Who’s Eligible

Consumers and entities who received one or more unsolicited faxes from Best Doctors between May 14, 2014, and June 17, 2019 advertising the company’s database inclusion despite not giving consent. Best Doctors reportedly sent 13,425 faxes to 7,772 entities during this period.

Potential Award

Varies

Proof of Purchase

No proof of purchase applicable

Exclusion and Objection Deadline

09/26/2022

Case Name

Kenneth A. Thomas MD LLC v. Best Doctors Inc., Case No. 1-18-CV-10957-DPW in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Final Hearing

10/27/2022

Settlement Website

BestDoctorsTCPASettlement.com

Claims Administrator

Kenneth A. Thomas v. Best Doctors Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 301130
Los Angeles, CA 90030-1130
888-750-4964

Class Counsel

Avi R Kaufman
KAUFMAN PA

Defense Counsel

David G Thomas
GREENBERG TRAURIG LLP