# Medical Advice **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [November 13, 2001, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126 "2001-11-13T15:51:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/1 "2001-11-13T15:51:08Z")
The registration agreement doesn’t state anything about stating or giving medical advice: “You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this BB to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by this BB.” Yet at: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=98401](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=98401) manhattan disagrees with my post about taking antibiotics & drinking fluids for bronchitis ( I guess, I really can’t tell what he is disagreeing with), which is not in of itself an inaccurate statement. If posting medical ‘advice’ (I’m putting quotes around it because I prefaced my original post with the word ‘Boy,’ which is an interjection of emotion for what follows it) is a crime, then posting questions _asking_ for medical advice should also be a posting crime. There are also certain posters who claim to be medical doctors, does the board check their certification & the state Medical Board Registrations to see if they are legally doctors? Do they check the Medical Boards to see if there are complaints about them? Why not just change the registration agreement so that one cannot ask any medical questions? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/2 "2001-11-13T16:04:51Z")
Many of the medical advice threads I’ve seen have dipped into the realm of “invasive of a person’s privacy, or otherwise violative of any law” (isn’t practicing medicine without a license a crime?). Not really a slap-the-cuffs-on-'em-worthy crime, but still, it’s pushing the envelope of acceptability. Of course, the number of threads where that happened pales in comparison to the number where someone posted something “knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening…” ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/3 "2001-11-13T16:44:00Z")
**handy** , you _specifically_ are warned not to post medical advice, because of your history. Take heed, if you ignore **manhattan’s** warning I WILL revoke your posting privileges. Lynn Cecil’s own Angel of Death ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/4 "2001-11-13T18:39:41Z")
You skipped right over this part: > [@](#): > > Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board and the volume of messages received, it is impossible for us to verify the information posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. Users should be particularly wary of medical, legal or other professional advice posted on the message boards and recognize that it is no substitute for in-person consultation with a competent professional. And handy, when a moderator tells you not to do something, for whatever reason, it’s really in your best interest to comply. Period, end of story. your humble TubaDiva Administrator ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/5 "2001-11-14T00:05:07Z")
TubaDiva, I couldn’t find the whole registration agreement because when I tried today to get a new acct so I could read it again, a page just shows up saying ‘you are already logged in as handy…’ So I had to search the board messages & thats what I found of it. Might be nice having a link to it on the Main forum registration page. “Users should be particularly wary of medical, legal or other professional advice posted on the message boards and recognize that it is no substitute for in-person consultation with a competent professional.” Yes, I can see the point in that; however that’s for people READING messages, not WRITING them. Frankly, I think it would become a big mess here if the only people who could write medical advice were doctors, the only ones who could write relationship advice were certified psychologists or registered psychiatrists, the only ones who could write about home improvement were licensed contractors & the only people who could give plumbing advice were licensed plumbers… ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/6 "2001-11-14T00:20:26Z")
Hmmm. I certainly don’t want to get in the middle is this less-than-mild discussion, but I have a couple of comments and a question. First, **Lynn** , you indicate that the reaction to what seemed to me to be a pretty innocuous post by **handy** was “because of [his] history”. What seemed to me to be an _opinion_ given forth by **handy** was interpreted as _advice_. As a Newbie who doesn’t know the history involved, this makes me a little nervous about voicing opinions. (for the record, I read the thread referred to and happen to agree with the dopers voicing concern about the frivolous use of antibiotics, but that is somewhat irrelevant to the issue that’s been moved here to ATMB). Do you have any advice [sub]pun intended[/sub] for us Newbies about voicing opinions on topics we might not be experts in? Second, **TubaDiva** , I was going to comment on the registration agreement warning being directed towards readers rather than posters, but **handy** beat me to it… so, in the immortal words of Emily Latella… “never mind.” ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/7 "2001-11-14T01:45:10Z")
I suspect this is headed for the Pit. Until that happens, I’ll take the forum into account. Anybody can ask anything, and anybody can respond. That’s the nature of a public board. If the mods or admins see anything blatantly illegal, or that will get the Reader into trouble, they can axe it, and rightly so. This board, also, due to its nature, is self-correcting. If someone asserts that Neil Armstrong didn’t land on the moon, many dozen posters will be along shortly to debunk and/or correct said assertion. More germane to this discussion, if someone says antibiotics are good for treating viral infections, somebody (or several somebodies) will contradict that statement and, if they know the board, offer backup. The problem, **handy,** is not with the board as a whole, but with your posting style and habits. You make short, off-the-cuff responses with little or no supporting documentation. Moreover, you rarely return to a thread to expand on your original comments. And most damning, a fair proportion of your ostensibly factual statements – I would estimate a third to half – are quickly pulled down as demonstrably false, or at best misleading. The current example is a perfect case in point. The original poster mentions green nasal discharge. Your advice: “You better get some antibiotics.” This may seem reasonable to you, and yes, it is a valid response, _ **if** _ the individual has a bacterial infection (which is by no means clear in the OP) and _ **if** _ said advice is coupled with a discussion of the dangers of overprescribing antibiotics. You qualified your response with neither of these, and thus your advice can be characterized as misleading at best, false and dangerous at worst. I do not presume to speak for the mods and admins (so if this crosses the line, please jerk me back). However, as I see it, **handy,** your position is a unique one. You have an outrageously high post count, which may lull new users into taking your advice more seriously than that of others. And because of your habitual hit-and-run posting style, most other SDMB members have simply stopped bothering to correct your fallacious assertions, except in the most egregious circumstances. And hence your unique identity, somebody who (1) posts a tremendous amount of (2) inaccurate information that is (3) rarely corrected. Thus the admonition that you, meaning you in particular, stop offering medical advice. I can’t see anybody seriously arguing with this. P.S. The lesson for newbies, **algernon,** is that you can learn from **handy** ’s mistakes. Instead of tossing out half-baked notions regarding topics on which you’re not an expert, you can take responsibility for your statements by saying, “I heard somewhere… \. I make no warranty of its accuracy, and I don’t have a cite, but I thought it was interesting. Can anybody offer perspective on this?” Thus, you get to say what you wanted to say, but by carefully including some sort of caveat, you run no risk, as **handy** regularly does, that your statements may be misinterpreted as the assertions of somebody who pretends to know what he’s talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/8 "2001-11-14T06:25:08Z")
Caveat is a latin legal expression meaning that you have no responsibility, but it can’t be taken as law today, since, although our legal system is based on the ancient Romans, since PC crept in you can get away with anything. I do have a medical history, but I am not obliged to show it to anyone. [/channelling handy] [sub]Boy, it’s exhilarating! I can see how it could become addictive…[/sub] Redboss ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/9 "2001-11-14T13:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > The lesson for newbies, **algernon,** is that you can learn from **handy** ’s mistakes. Instead of tossing out half-baked notions regarding topics on which you’re not an expert, you can take responsibility for your statements by saying, “I heard somewhere… \. I make no warranty of its accuracy, and I don’t have a cite, but I thought it was interesting. Can anybody offer perspective on this?” Thus, you get to say what you wanted to say, but by carefully including some sort of caveat, you run no risk, as **handy** regularly does, that your statements may be misinterpreted as the assertions of somebody who pretends to know what he’s talking about. [ Thanks **Cervaise** for the tip. Given my personal experience of lurking for a couple of years before becoming a member, you’d think that all this would be intuitively obvious to me, but the odd (yet pleasing) mixture of slash and dash irreverent postings that appear right in with concise and precise erudite postings has lead me to the conclusion that I should make no assumptions. I’d speculate that other Newbies might have been wondering the same thing I was, so from all of us, thanks for the _advice_. ~grin~ (yes, I know how to use smileys, I just choose not to) . ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/10 "2001-11-14T13:30:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Redboss \* > \*\*Caveat is a latin legal expression meaning that you have no responsibility, but it can’t be taken as law today, since, although our legal system is based on the ancient Romans, since PC crept in you can get away with anything. > > I do have a medical history, but I am not obliged to show it to anyone. > > [/channelling handy] > > Redboss \*\* Not quite, **Redboss** …you need a snotty link to Google, and then you’d have it down. Add “I searched [http://www.google.com](http://www.google.com) and found that Caveat is a legal…etc” and it’d be _perfect_! Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/11 "2001-11-14T14:05:47Z")
Er, I believe the “Handy pile-on” you boys are lookin’ for is over in the Pit, not here in ATMB. ☹ [sub]hey, c’mon, quit it, you guys[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/12 "2001-11-14T15:39:21Z")
There is no reason it should be in the Pit. I don’t mind nasty comments although they would be better if given in person. Cervaise, that is an execellent accounting. However, I disagree with your off-the-cuff responses remark. There is not one poster here who is complaining about my off-the-cuff responses or driveby posts that has not made same themselves. Anyway, its my opinion that the mods got this whole thing backwards because the agreement states not that you can’t post advice, but: “Users should be particularly wary of medical, legal or other professional advice posted on the message boards and recognize that it is no substitute for in-person consultation with a competent professional.” In other words, it would seem that those who would take medical advice from reading posts here are the ones who should be banned, not those who write the advice themselves. At any rate, I have to live with the draconian-let’s-make-a-new-rule-for-handy-only decision & not post ‘medical advice’-like messages. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/13 "2001-11-14T15:49:25Z")
Suddenly I hear the sound of sad violins. _drives away_ ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/14 "2001-11-14T16:04:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by handy \* > \*\* > However, I disagree with your off-the-cuff responses remark. There is not one poster here who is complaining about my off-the-cuff responses or driveby posts that has not made same themselves._\* Yeah, we’ve all made our fair share of drive-by and incorrect posts. But you’ve made **11,213** of them! Nobody would be complaining about it if you made a couple of errors or ill-thought remarks. The problem is that almost all of your posts are like this. And “almost all of your posts” adds up to a whole lot of posts! I’ve defended you in the past, in the hopes that you’d learn something and change your ways. You haven’t. This leguminous vegetable is tired of you already. p.s. I’d be happy to tell you any of this in person if I ever met you. You’re in CA. I’m in NY. So it’s jsut not feasible to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/15 "2001-11-14T16:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > At any rate, I have to live with the draconian-let’s-make-a-new-rule-for-handy-only decision & not post ‘medical advice’-like messages. I think “draconian” is a bit melodramatic. The fact that we have medical professionals (doctors & nurses, etc.) as posters means that they can give safe and factual answers to medical advice questions. I haven’t read every single thread of that nature, but I’d still be willing to go out on a limb and say that when they give their advice (which is based on FACT and years of study) they also state that the person should see their own doctor because without seeing the person, they can’t be sure the advice they give is correct for their situation. I don’t believe that you are a doctor or nurse, or otherwise in the medical profession. And it doesn’t appear that factual answers are your, um, strong point. So maybe the mods have a good idea by asking/demanding that you stop giving potentially damaging advice. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/16 "2001-11-15T00:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **handy** _ > > I couldn’t find the whole registration agreement because when I tried today to get a new acct so I could read it again, a page just shows up saying ‘you are already logged in as handy…’ Did you just say you were creating a second account? 😕 Esprix ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/17 "2001-11-15T00:16:13Z")
I like you Esprix, but the only way to bring up the Agreement is to open a new account, it seems. I don’t complete the new account, I just bring up the form with the agreement that way,right? Anyway, today, I remembered I could turn off cookies & see it, right? I bet there isn’t anything in it that prohibits my posting style. Well, at least I have a posting style that mimics the way I talk in person. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/18 "2001-11-15T02:00:36Z")
You’re this way IRL? :eek: Just checking that you hadn’t broken that coveted of all rules - no sock puppets. I figured you knew better, but I thought I’d ask anyway. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/19 "2001-11-15T16:25:28Z")
Surprise Esprix, that’s how I ‘hear’ & that’s how I talk. Try to remember that deafness is a communication impairment & one gets quite a lot less information than hearing people do. Now, hearing people on the board get a LOT of information with their ears so it’s probably frustrating for them to not get as much information when they read my posts as they usually get when talking to someone at work. Then they may want to force me into providing a more comfortable level of information that they are used to, in order to simulate for them real life. I sometimes cannot do this for the reason mentioned above, in that I cannot give what I don’t have. My primary receiving language is sign language which has a grammar structure that leaves out a lot of words–words I often forget to add myself to my writings. Hope that clears things up for you & the mods. If not, well someday if they become deaf, I’m quite sure they’ll understand. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2001, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126/20 "2001-11-15T16:51:30Z")
I don’t have any problem understanding why your posting style will inevitably be unique – IIRC, I pointed that fact out in a Pit thread way back. But that’s not really the issue, **handy**. It’s the content that some are concerned about – yep, it’s a general interest board but it has a distinct ‘fighting ignorance’ motif. Thus when you post IMHO in GQ, it tends to grate with some. Sure others also do it but, unfortunately. you’ve been marked out, probably because of your prolific posting. I also think you do well not to respond to some of the baiting and poking fun at your style. I’ve done it myself and regretted it – I just hope you can see that people sometimes forget how deafness impinges on written communication. I’m sure **Esprix** will be able to testify to how difficult being part of a minority can sometimes be. IMHO, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a responsibility to try to communicate in conventional form, anymore than it excuses the rest of the board from failing to understand the problems you have writing in standard English. It’s a compromise. - my two pennies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-advice/93126.md?page=2)