MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS ONLY. We need do band together and discuss the DANGERS of!
Question:
The more I see, the more I become outraged. I suppose if YAHOO thought this a problem, they would have done something by now. God. Who knows. Is there anything we can do? I feel we should at least exchange some very serious ideas. LEE, DMDOC, MEDTLCMOM, just to name a very few.
Let's leave our E-Mails with eachother, and hope we can connect.
GRIZZ
duckling702@yahoo.com
Answers:
I see so much misinformation thrown out there, and it is pretty frightening. I think this is a very useful forum in certain situations, such as "I have been diagnosed with condition X by a doctor. Where can I get more info? Or what is your experience with this disease?"
But too many people are out there asking to be diagnosed by strangers who are in no way qualified to do so. I have been known to throw out this comment from time to time (I actually have it in a folder on my desk top so I can copy and paste it!):
"With all due respect, you should not be looking for a diagnosis on this site. I am in the medical field, and I am constantly horrified by the amount of totally wrong information/suggestions that I see here on a hourly basis. Even if someone says they are a nurse or doctor, you have no idea if they really are or not. On the internet, you can be anything you want to be. There are resources out there. Go to your doctor, or at least call your doctor. Many offices have nurse practitioners who can return your calls and answer questions. Call the nurse at your city/county Public Health office. Many insurance companies have a number where you can speak with a nurse, so see if your insurance company provides that service. At least you will know that you can trust their expertise. I believe this site is useful for things such as…I have been diagnosed with such and such disease/condition, what is your experience with it. OR where can I find more information of such and such. But asking people to diagnose you here is just plain dangerous……"
If the person is asking something that I feel qualified to answer, I will. Or I can research for sites where they can educate themselves. I have also come to realize that we, as parents, are not doing enough to educate our young people. Their lack of BASIC knowledge of their bodies is appalling.
Other Answers:
I don't think it's a bad thing. I like when my patients come into their appointment having researched their condition beforehand. Sometimes they teach me new things. Because they're so passionate or anxious about their condition, they come up with some great suggestions. Likewise, it can give me an idea of what kind of therapy is going to work for them. And it helps if the patient understands some of the terminology I'm trying to throw at them! An informed patient is an awesome one - I can't take 100% of the responsibility for them, nor do I want to.
What I think you are saying is that only medical professionals should answer medical questions? I agree with this, as someone may have a problem and receive wrong information that could potentially harm them.
nink1p@yayoo.com
I certainly see the dangers and pitfalls of a questioner putting full faith into an opinion of a layman but the disclaimer of Yahoo fully covers that. It's no different from asking their friends and family around them what they should do for a suspected illness or disease and you can't stop them from doing that either. Besides, there are other methods of healing that are not covered by western medicine and are equally as effective. If an answerer suggests that, the "patient" has every right to check out if that kind of treatment works for him/her.
What you can do is to visit the health forum regularly and put in your two cents worth. Cite your credentials as source and your advice will have more credibility and will most probably be followed by the answerer.
Answers: