The Internet has become a powerful tool for finding information on a very wide variety
of health and medical topics. Most sources are reputable, reliable, and truly have the
best interests of healthcare consumers in mind. There are exceptions, however. It is
wise, therefore, to be cautious with the information you do find. When you are perusing
health and medical information on-line, please keep the following points in mind for your
own protection:
1. Only your personal physician, who is familiar with your individual health history and
profile and your current health status, is truly qualified to make a diagnosis, prescribe a
medication, or recommend a treatment.
2. Medical research (and our state of medical knowledge) is a train that keeps chugging
down the tracks daily. Since ancient times, that train has traveled a considerable
distance, and now physicians and other healthcare professionals are pretty smart about
health and disease and what makes our bodies tick. But remember...it's a moving train,
which means that even the latest available medical information (or wisdom) may be
obsolete by the time it reaches you on the Internet. Or, more likely, the information may
be too new for doctors (or healthcare consumers) to interpret or understand in any
meaningful way.
Doctors are sometimes a bit slow to adopt new treatments, and no wonder! While they
certainly want to help you, they also don't want to hurt you. Many times, new treatments
reported with fanfare in the media just don't have sufficient research data backing them
up. Often, long-term safety data for the particular drug or treatment in question aren't in
yet. It's probably best to err on the side of caution in cases like this, and rely on older,
proven remedies instead of throwing caution to the wind and possibly risking a patient's
life or well-being. You can certainly ask and encourage your doctor to look into new
treatments you've heard about on the Internet or elsewhere, but don't expect him or her
to throw out "the old medical bag" in favor of the latest, greatest newfangled treatment
reported on the local news station last night.
3. There are quacks and charlatans out there. Internet information is not regulated
or controlled, which is probably a very good thing for freedom-of-the-press reasons, but it
means that you have to take things posted on the Internet with a grain of salt (and a
healthy dose of skepticism). Consider the source of the information. Ask yourself if
they're trying to sell you anything. If it's information from a major medical association, a
major non-profit educational resource organization, or the U.S. Government, it's likely to
be more accurate and reliable than information posted on a site whose sole purpose is to
sell you a "wonder drug" or "miracle cure" of one kind or another.
Remember...if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
4. It is a cruel fact of life that when you are most sick, you are most vulnerable. It is a
sad statement about humanity, but nevertheless a true one, that some people make a
business of preying on the vulnerable, the sick, the weak, or the confused. Senior
citizens, often alone and isolated and sometimes far too trusting, are particularly
susceptible to the slick, hope-giving lines of the master salesman. But everyone is
susceptible to some extent. If money is to be made selling this or that nostrum, people
will find a way to sell it, on or off the Internet. An excellent source of information on
what works, what doesn't, and what should be banned outright is FDA Consumer
Magazine published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can subscribe to it
at very reasonable cost. For more information, call (202) 512-2250 or surf to FDA
Consumer. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/default.htm
Some time ago, FDA did an entire article on this very subject -- namely, how can you
tell what's cool and what's for fools on the Internet.
Click here to read it. http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/596_info.html (page is currently unavailable)
5. If you're in doubt about some treatment or medication which you hear about on the
Internet, talk with your doctor. Your doctor may not have all the answers, but
graduating from medical school and completing a long residency is usually a pretty good
indication that this person won't be easily fooled, and he or she should be a great source
of reliable information for you, the patient. If you don't like what your doctor is telling
you, it's always your right to get a second opinion. However, if you lack trust in your
doctor, perhaps you should be shopping for a new doctor as well.
It's not in your best interest to seek medical advice from a physician, and then discount
or ignore it. Finding a good doctor in whom you have confidence could be one of the
most important healthcare decisions you'll ever make.
© 1998, Joel R. Cooper All rights reserved
For permission to reproduce this article, write to the author at jcooper@medreport.com
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