"Even if something is potentially actionable, you may make things worse rather than better, because some of these may end up being publicised if you attack a patient – people read newspapers, there’s almost no good possible outcome that can come of it," Hillowe says. In 2017, South Carolina psychiatrist Dr Mark Beale sued an anonymous critic who left him a one-star review on Google , and asked Google to unmask the reviewer. After the media picked up the story, people around the world flooded him with negative reviews – he now has 1.2 stars on Google from 169 reviewers. "He should have better empathy for his patients and be able to deal with his own hurt feelings," one writes. Another says: "He has no place being in a position of power if he sues people for a Google rating."