JustAnswer.com, Serenade Ventures LLC, Andy Kurtzig CEO
Medical Experts Listed as Verified Are Licensed in India
- 10-22-2009
- 20
There is just something about justanswer.com that initially looks like a scam and a ripoff. Perhaps it is the way the site is laid out, childish and unprofessional. My initial hunch was right, because the quality of the service matches the interface. Unfortunately, I ignored this hunch and stepped right in. I did ask for a refund of my deposit and received it.
After asking a question in the medical category and getting a vague, wishy-washy answer, I looked into the credentials of Dr. Landley, who answered my question. To my horror, Dr. Landley is located in India and is not an MD, but an MBBS. His license-issuing agency is the Assam Medical Council (AMC - 14268). His profile says he has "Years of experience in several fields of medicine." He is also "VERIFIED" as an expert, which means he paid a few bucks to a third-party verification company, which took the money and replied to JustAnswer.com that he paid, so he must be OK.
This made me look into this scam further. I found another "doctor" calling himself Steven Baughman. It turns out Dr. Baughman is Dr. Jyoti. Dr. Jyoti is not an MD; his degree is an MS, or master's degree, and his license was issued by the Indian Medical Council (AMC-13168). Surprise, surprise, he is located in India! It appears he has changed his name back to Jyoti since I last saw his profile.
It turns out the JustAnswer.com medical category is swarming with Indian "medical experts" who have been "VERIFIED." While some, for whatever reason, assumed Western names, most of them stick to their own names. Examples: Dr. Saha and Dr. Bhumika.
If you really want to give JustAnswer a try, make absolutely sure you look at the profile of the person who is answering your question, and make absolutely sure they are licensed in the USA and have an MD or DO degree listed.
Company: JustAnswer.com, Serenade Ventures LLC, Andy Kurtzig CEO
Country: USA
State: California
City: San Francisco
Address: P.O. Box 29045
Site: justanswer.com