Click “Like” for a Second Opinion?

There are many reasons why you might be asked to click “like” on a Facebook page. You usually cannot access a coupon that a company offers until after you “like” their page. Bands might ask fans to click “like” to show their support. Political parties (or groups that favor a particular one) may want you to “like” their page or a post that is on it. Overall, this is fairly harmless.

Things get a little fishy when a health care provider asks you to do things on Facebook in order to be given a free second opinion. I’m not talking about those posts that get shared that tell a story of a child who needs surgery and who can get it after that post receives enough “likes”. I think most of us know that, in reality, there isn’t a surgeon frantically refreshing his or her Facebook page so he can dash into surgery the instant that last “like” is clicked and save a child’s life. Things just don’t work that way.

That being said, New Times SLO reports an odd story where Facebook and health care have collided. The Templeton Institute for Neurology has a Facebook page. They are offering a free second opinion, if you do the following things: “like” their main Facebook page, “like” their post, share their post, comment on their post, “like” their video, or share their video. Why? Here is their explanation:

Why your likes are so critical is that because this “one of a kind program in the world” depends in its funding and success on advancing name recognition of this free service measured by our “Facebook likes”.

The website for Templeton Institute for Neurology says:

Second Opinion is free at our institution, in excahnge (sic) for the “good will” of 50 of your firends (sic) liking us on Facebook. No insurance needed even if you have insurance.

According to the article from New Times SLO, a patient who does not want to use the “Facebook Free Program” that Templeton Institute for Neurology offers can still get the second opinion that they are seeking. However, it will cost them $2,500 for the initial consult and then $600 per hour for follow up through a place called Neurology Second Opinion Inc., (which is part of their practice).