I understand that The Chicago Reader does not want to expose itself to lawsuits if someone follow medical advice posted on the pages, and the advice is bad. But it seems to me that the mods are a little too zealous about closing medical threads.
Let’s say someone posts a thread about a potential heart problem. Someone else posts, ‘Drink herbal tea and it will go away.’ Obviously that’s bad medical advice.
But someone else may have, or have had, or someone he knew has, or has had, similar symptoms. It might be useful for someone to hear about it. And there are doctors on the boards who may offer some insight. Nothing can substitute for actually seeing a doctor. If one has medical problems then one should seek local professional help. But as long as it is made absolutely clear that a message board is no substitute for a professional medical visit, and as long as no one gives questionable medical advice (i.e., ‘Do this’ or ‘You have this’, as opposed to anecdotal posts) I think they can serve a purpose.
And where is the line drawn? ‘How do I cure hiccoughs?’ Sounds like a medical question to me, but I think it would probably be allowed.
‘I’m obese. How do I lower my cholesterol and promote a healthy cardiovascular system?’ Would that be allowed? There are many remedies that are widely known such as changing one’s diet, exercising… and seeking professional help to tailor a diet and exercise programme, possibly with medications, to one’s specific needs.
‘Should I have this operation?’ Clearly this is a situation where someone should definitely get professional advice. But I can see where input from people who have undergone the same operation would be useful. For example, someone may consider liposuction or stomach stapling. Or knee-replacement or hip-replacement surgery. I myself am missing a petellar tendon, and part of my patella is gone. (I’m not considering surgery or seeking any advice. Just adding another example of a condition someone may want advice on.) A doctor will present the pros and cons of the procedure. But non-professional experiences by people who have had such elective surgeries may help people evaluate what their doctors have told them.
My opinion: Medical threads should remain open as long as nobody contradicts medical advice, and as long as useful information is presented.
Overt medical advice does make us nervous; we never want to see a thread where someone says “Eat/drink/inject yourself with/cover every square inch of your body in _____________ (whatever that is) and you will be healed.”
We do have doctors and nurses and other medical professionals who post on the board and they sometimes give their opinions or share what they have seen on the job, though this is within some pretty strict parameters…
We never want anyone to substitute anything they see here for competent real-life consultation with a professional. At the same time, we are not your mommies and you are all supposedly adults and able to think for yourselves. It’s your actions and hence your consequences as well.
People do give opinions and share their experiences and we try to allow that as much as possible within the bounds of what I just stated above. It tends to be on a case by case basis sort of thing and it even varies with the forum as the question is asked or opinion is solicited or whatever. Usually what determines is what precisely is being asked and where it is being solicited and what use it will be put to.
Your best bet is to consider how you want to pose this exactly and then send an email to the moderators of that forum and ask them for pointers as to how to proceed. They’ll tell you what flies and what doesn’t.
My two cents as an MD and frequent poster is that I would encourage posters to de-personalize the medical questions as much as possible. Avoid “what should I do” questions, ask for information about diagnoses and conditions and alternatives in general, not in specific. Questions like “I’ve just been diagnosed with Asthma, what do I need to know about the disease of Asthma?” are topics I can get my teeth into. I feel much more comfortable giving a burst of general information on a focused topic with the caveat that “if you and your doctor agree, this might be appropriate for you”.
I try to depersonalize my responses in turn, providing facts about the diagnosis/disease entity/procedure/treatment, along with pluses and minuses of various treatments. I try also to avoid saying things like: “since you tell us your creatinine is high, Metformin is not for you as a diabetic treatment” but say instead “metformin should be avoided if renal function is too impaired”.
I’d be interested in feedback from posters and admin/mod types about fine-tuning this sort of question/answer thingy (note my laser-precise medical terminology).
The examples you posted can be very useful – not only to the OP of such a thread, but also to those of us who may read them. Such contributions cannot be read if they cannot be posted.
It’s simply one of their third rail topics. We’re not supposed to question it, even though we pay to be here. Others are:
Filesharing - nope, no possible way any utterance even remotely related to it could possibly be appropriate.
Why the Reader can’t seem to take the money we give them and buy a server that works well or explain why they’re still poor-mouthing after they went to subscription AND put advertising on the board.
Seems like it would be easier to simply disown the info posted, rather than police it.
The Chicago Reader is not responsible for the content of this board. If you have a problem with what’s posted, go pound sand.
Of course, that would require at least a modicum of testicular matter, so don’t hold your breath.
Still, after some cursory googling, I can’t seem to find a single case where a message board was successfully sued due to “medical advice” posted by a user.
We could cease all endeavors under the sun for fear of lawsuits, just to be safe, but it seems insipid.
Might be some boards that were out there and have been put out of business by lawsuits.
Litigation – especially frivolous, unjustified suits – are expensive and bothersome. For most companies (and certainly the majority of individuals), having to defend against such action can bring everything to a screeching halt.
Easier just to shut the whole thing up and forget about it.
::Sigh:: I guess. I know the Reader is in no position to defend against frivolous lawsuits…it’s just sad that so many things are stymied by that fear. It’s so frustrating! On one hand, I’d like to see people who bring frivolous lawsuits smacked down hard, but any law you could pass that would do that would keep people with legitimate gripes from suing big companies just because they can’t afford to risk it. Lose-lose.
Unfortunately, that’s not always a permissable affirmative defense in a court of law. It has been ruled many times that such disclaimers aren’t necessarily a barrier against lawsuits.