The ACCC has taken legal action against Australia’s largest booking website, accusing it of deceptive conduct by doctoring thousands of patient online reviews about GP clinics.

HealthEngine, founded by Perth GP Dr Marcus Tan, was at the centre of a media storm last year when it emerged that reviews were being embellished by the company before being posted to make them more positive.

The ACCC accusing it of deliberately misleading patients by giving them a “false impression about the quality of health practices that could be accessed” through the website.

But the watchdog said it also sold the personal information of around 135,000 patients booking appointments to health insurance brokers so they could tout them for business.