Medfluencer?
Doctor advertises on
Instagram.
Medfluencer?
Doctor advertises on
Instagram.
from
There are more and more medfluencers, i.e. doctors who advertise on social media. But are they allowed to advertise products there as doctors or does this violate professional law and is therefore anti-competitive?
Product advertising by doctors on social media
An assistant doctor for pediatrics and adolescent medicine runs an Instagram account with over 400,000 followers. He openly presents himself as a doctor, uses his doctorate and posts mainly medical content.
In September 2024, the doctor published a photo of himself in front of a La Roche-Posay billboard, taken at an invitation to the US Open in New York. In the accompanying text, he thanked the company and used hashtags to promote its sun cream.
This was followed in November 2024 by a video about the dangers of button cell batteries for small children. In it, he clearly presented a Duracell pack and explained:
I think it’s great that Duracell is actively helping to prevent such accidents with its BabySecure technology!
A qualified trade association called on the doctor to cease and desist in January 2025.
The decision
The Regional Court of Karlsruhe(judgment of 18.09.2025 – 14 O 19/25 KfH) ordered the doctor to cease and desist and to reimburse the warning costs.
Professional regulations also apply on Instagram
The medical professional code of conduct prohibits doctors from using their name and professional title for commercial advertising. According to established case law, this rule is also enforceable under competition law. Third-party advertising in connection with the medical profession is generally contrary to the profession.
The doctor had objected that he was not acting as a doctor, but as a “medfluencer”. The court took a different view. He explicitly referred to himself as a doctor on his account, used his academic degree and described himself as an assistant doctor in further training. He thus claimed to be particularly trustworthy and reputable and used his status as a doctor to generate reach.
The court left open whether the doctor himself operated the account. This is because the professional code of conduct also prohibits doctors from allowing their name or professional reputation to be used for commercial purposes. The doctor had contributed to both posts and had written the text for the La Roche-Posay photo himself.
No permitted recommendation
The objection that these were permissible recommendations to patients did not hold water either. The more than 400,000 followers were not patients and ordinary batteries and sun cream were not “health services”.
The doctor argued that the photo wall with the La Roche-Posay logo was not advertising. The court took a different view. Such photo walls are indeed common at events, but precisely for the purpose of advertising. The written contribution with reference to the sun cream additionally reinforced the advertising effect.
Conclusion
The decision draws a clear line for the growing phenomenon of “medfluencers”.
Anyone who appears as a doctor on social media and makes use of the associated credibility is subject to the advertising restrictions under professional law. This applies regardless of the reach and regardless of whether it is a paid cooperation or a seemingly incidental mention of a product. The decisive factor is the link between the medical professional title and commercial advertising.
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