Content note: Mentions suicide and self-harm.
A friend messaged me at 2 a.m. They’d been matched with a therapist who told them their depression was ‘a choice.’ They’d found BetterHelp through a creator they adored. I pulled the court filings before sunrise.
Scale never meant care
BetterHelp is an online therapy service; you most likely know from sponsoring any influencer with a pulse. Its marketing edge is being fast access to mental health professionals.
Why it matters: BetterHelp is a market leader in online mental health. That visibility, coupled with persistent low quality of care, affects real people needing help. As someone entering psychiatry, I read these court filings and see a system optimized for growth, not care.
So much for HIPAA
I can’t speak for the globe. But in the U.S., patients have a legal expectation of privacy in medical settings under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In 2023, the FTC required BetterHelp to pay $7.8M in refunds after determining the company shared sensitive mental‑health data with advertisers such as Facebook. Imagine your doctor selling your bloodwork for some side cash. FTC press release, 2023.
This is not an isolated privacy lapse. It’s another example of why VC causes conflicts with patient protection.
Fine print & cost savings
Imagine arriving at a hospital & not being sure the staff is qualified. That’s the claim at the center of the most recent California class action against BetterHelp, alleging the company matched patients with unlicensed or unsuited providers despite marketing that all therapists are licensed while also claiming this in their TOS (Rodarte v. BetterHelp, 2024).
From BetterHelp’s own Terms of Service:
“You understand, agree, and acknowledge that the Therapists are independent providers who are neither our employees nor agents nor representatives. The Platform’s role is limited to enabling the Therapist Services. The Company does not itself provide Therapy Services and is not a healthcare entity. The Therapists themselves are responsible for the performance of the Therapist services.“
BetterHelp paired LGBTQ+ clients with hostile providers and assault survivors with providers of the wrong gender (complaint PDF). The filing says BetterHelp paired an assault survivor with a male therapist after she requested female. That’s not a bug; it’s a business model that outsources triage to an algorithm.
Results of negligence
This is the part that gets buried. BetterHelp has repeatedly settled confidentially & out of court claims of negligence in wrongful death lawsuits involving patient deaths. If the company believed they met the standard of care, it would litigate; instead, it pays to settle every time.
The most recent matter involved a university student who reported multiple times explicit suicidal ideation to platform providers & therapist yet failed to receive adequate care, ultimately dying by suicide. The family reached a confidential settlement with BetterHelp (Feldman Shepherd case result). This is just the most recent one to hit the news; it’s not the only case.
Influencers help this spread
Most people learned about BetterHelp through creator sponsorships. Influencer marketing leverages parasocial trust to confer to the brand. This is the core of why influencer marketing is so powerful. The trouble comes when the product is advertised to people with medical conditions as a cure.
Worse, brand partners often moderate or suppress discussion of these issues in comments & community spaces. Search the comments of large creators who’ve run BetterHelp ads—you’ll rarely find mention of wrongful‑death settlements or the FTC actions. A great example of this is the YouTube channel & subreddit for Corridor Crew. They get a barrage of comments every time the sponsors appear, & they mass ban & delete any mention of these suits.
Wrap-up
If you sponsor BetterHelp, you’re not just taking money. You’re the final ad before someone’s worst day. Stop. Or at least read the filings I’ve linked. Then decide if the CPM is worth it.
If you need immediate help in the U.S., call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or your local emergency number.
References
- Federal Trade Commission. (2023, March 2). FTC bans BetterHelp from revealing consumers’ sensitive mental health data for advertising purposes. Federal Trade Commission. FTC Press Release: “FTC Bans BetterHelp from Revealing Consumers’ Sensitive Mental Health Data for Advertising Purposes”
- Federal Trade Commission. (2024, May 6). BetterHelp customers will begin receiving notices about refunds related to 2023 privacy settlement. Federal Trade Commission. FTC Press Release: “BetterHelp Customers Will Begin Receiving Notices About Refunds Related to 2023 Privacy Settlement”
- Associated Press. (2024, May 8). BetterHelp customers to receive refunds from FTC settlement. AP News. AP News Article: “BetterHelp Customers to Receive Refunds from FTC Settlement”
- HIPAA Journal. (2023, March 3). BetterHelp settlement with FTC over health data privacy. HIPAA Journal. HIPAA Journal Article: “BetterHelp Settlement with FTC Over Health Data Privacy”
- York University Osgoode Hall Law School. (2023, March 22). FTC punishes BetterHelp for sharing mental health information with advertisers. IP Osgoode Blog. IP Osgoode Blog Post: “FTC Punishes BetterHelp for Sharing Mental Health Information with Advertisers”
- ClassAction.org. (2024, October 17). Class action alleges BetterHelp misleads patients, matches them with unlicensed, unsuited therapists. ClassAction.org. ClassAction.org Article: “Class Action Alleges BetterHelp Misleads Patients, Matches Them with Unlicensed, Unsuitable Therapists”
- Rodarte v. BetterHelp, Inc., No. 3:24‑cv‑XXXXX (N.D. Cal. filed Oct. 14, 2024). Class action complaint. Class Action Complaint PDF
- Bloomberg Law. (2024, October 21). BetterHelp misrepresented match process, class action claims. Bloomberg Law. Bloomberg Law Article: “BetterHelp Misrepresented Match Process, Class Action Claims”
- Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter Tanner Weinstock Dodig LLP. (n.d.). Family of suicide victim reaches confidential settlement with online therapy provider BetterHelp. Feldman Shepherd. Feldman Shepherd Case Result: “Family of Suicide Victim Reaches Confidential Settlement with Online Therapy Provider BetterHelp”
- Vox. (2024, May 16). BetterHelp and the risks of online therapy privacy issues. Vox. Vox Article: “BetterHelp and the Risks of Online Therapy Privacy Issues”
- Maastricht University. (2021, February). How the BetterHelp scandal changed our perspective on influencer responsibility. Maastricht University Blog. Maastricht University Blog Post: “How the BetterHelp Scandal Changed Our Perspective on Influencer Responsibility”
- BetterHelp. (n.d.). Terms of Service. BetterHelp. BetterHelp Terms of Service
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