Burda-Verlag is no longer allowed to award seals to doctors.
That was determined by the Munich regional court.
The reason is to “mislead” the readers.
Munich - The Munich Regional Court has
prohibited
Burda-Verlag from awarding and publishing "doctor seals" that give the impression of a neutral and objective review.
The 4th Chamber of Commerce thus upheld the injunctive relief brought by the central competition office on Monday.
The verdict is not yet legally binding.
According to the court, the publisher publishes the
Focus Gesundheit
magazine once a year under the title "Ärzteliste".
Such lists are allowed.
However, the seal gave the impression that the doctors designated as "top physicians" or "
Focus
recommendation" "were distinguished on the basis of a neutral and professional examination and thus occupy a top position among physicians in the same specialist discipline".
In doing so, they misleadingly left the area of the editorial, evaluating contribution and gave the impression that an evaluation was taking place according to objective criteria, the chamber criticized.
That is anti-competitive.
A doctor's seal for 2,000 euros: Awarding violates the law
The court said that the publisher also takes subjective elements into account in the recommendation lists, such as recommendations from colleagues or patient satisfaction.
In fact, the quality of medical services cannot be determined and compared objectively with measuring devices in the test laboratory.
However, consumers would interpret the doctors' seals in a similar way to the seals of approval from Stiftung Warentest and assume that the doctors were awarded on the basis of a neutral and professional test.
For a license fee of around EUR 2,000 net, doctors could receive a seal under the “Focus recommendation” heading and use it to advertise themselves.
The award of the seal for the purpose of advertising violated "the ban on misleading under fair competition law," the Chamber ruled.
However, going to the doctor is always the best decision when you are worried about your own health - regardless of whether you have a Burda seal or not.
Men should not hesitate to seek medical advice for some symptoms - they can herald prostate cancer.
(dpa, lf)