Promoting egg freezing to the public: The price of influence

Abstract

This article investigates the ethical, social, commercial, and legal implications of social media influencers promoting healthcare services, particularly focusing on a case where an influencer publicly shared her egg-freezing journey at a fertility clinic in Victoria, Australia, under a “paid partnership” arrangement. Key issues identified include potential conflicts of interest, the commodification of healthcare, challenges to informed consent, and possible violations of healthcare advertising regulations. In promoting the clinic's services, the influencer may present biased, incomplete, or misleading information, which could lead to suboptimal healthcare decisions by followers. The commodification of healthcare may encourage impulsive decisions, misrepresent the complexity of treatments, and exacerbate disparities in healthcare access. Informed consent may be compromised when potential patients are swayed by personal narratives and emotional appeals rather than objective, comprehensive information. Additionally, the article highlights the potential legal ramifications of such promotional activities, which might contravene regulations against direct advertising of therapeutic goods and services. The article underscores the need for regulatory bodies to establish and enforce clear guidelines for third-party promotional activities in the healthcare sector, prioritizing patient and public interests, transparency, ethical practices, and informed decision-making.