What is your opinion on doctors who give diagnoses and treatment suggestions online?

Even if they really are doctors, it would be hard to give an accurate diagnosis without actually seeing a patient, wouldn’t it?
I would consider their ideas, but not become sold to them.
If you need to see a doctor, can go find one you can put a face and reputation to…

I think they may be of a great help to people who may not be able to afford to go see a doctor.

Anyone who is willing to diagnose at long distance is probably not a Doctor. However, generalized advice not addressed to an individual can be useful to everyone.

@pdworkin I can agree with that.

IF a real Doctor by some strange reason gives out advice on a chat site, a real Doctor would give a disclaimer along with advice. Such as check with your own Doctor etc.
The 1000’s of dollars they pay out every year in insurance due to sue happy people makes Doctors especially aware of putting people in a situation that could cause them harm.
Giving advice to someone they have not personally examined is really too risky and
I personally would not take ANY advice given by someone who claimed to be a Doctor
on a chat site giving advice.
Doctors normally do not have that kind of time….........just ask their wife.

On the internet, you can claim to be anyone you want to be, so take advice with some caution. That said, there are some physicians who are also jellies and they can be an excellent resource – I know @Shilolo convinced a jelly to go to the ER for abdominal pain that turned out to be a ruptured appendix around this time last year. Before my time here, so this is my chance to say WTG!.

I’m a Certified Nurse Midwife and women’s health care nurse practitioner – and I would not say that I give diagnoses and treatment here. But I’ve been doing the work I do for a lot of years, and I know how to take a good history and I answer questions all day long at work, in exam rooms during visits and on the phone. Within my area of expertise, I can triage. That’s what @shilolo did when he sorted through @judochop’s story and advised him to seek medical attention ASAP. I can also share accurate information and offer trustworthy sources. There is a lot of misinformation floating the internet, and I hope I help keep some of it from overwhelming Fluther.

the ones I’ve seen have clauses and terms of use, the advise does not replace an office visit! like @MagsRags and @Shililo I’ve given advise on here, (dental) and everybody realises its help you can give without seeing the person, therefore it’s just advice. I’ve never seen anyone on here give untoward advise on a medical problem.

My opinion is that they are all a bunch of quacks. @MagsRags I believe that is the link you were looking for…

hehehe

@shilolo I can’t believe I messed that up! well, yes I can. Thanks for the help.

If I ask them for a diagnoses or how to treat something, then I think that’s ok. I’d have to trust them enough to follow the advice they give me.

Depends. Let’s take

http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/type-1-diabetes/

for example. As long as there are trustworthy doctors who also participate in the forum, treatment advice can be useful. Diabetics still need lab tests in the real world to determine HbA1c levels and I wouldn’t recommend uploading pictures of infected puncture wounds, but most issues around diabetes 1 can actually be done online. Advice from veteran type 1 diabetics can be very useful and smart modern doctors admit they can learn something too.

Even though some novice diabetes type 1 patients may be able to afford to go see a doctor and even participate in a one week seminar, they could still complement their knowledge online and work out all the details.

The very first diagnosis of diabetes should never be done online of course. But over the years there are many details for which remote diagnosis could work. For example discussing blood sugar levels collected over the past 4 weeks. Diagnosis: always too high in the morning. You don’t need a physical visit to make that diagnosis. Same for treatment. Try changing this or that. This can be done over the phone or online.

@mattbrowne But that’s in a structured online environment where people are in some sort of program. I’m talking about totally anonymous websites such as Fluther or Inquire, or Yahoo Answers, or wherever.

@Rarebear there are people on here with post grad degrees in medicine, nursing and dentistry. Giving advise and suggestions is not diagnosing and people here don’t diagnose.

@trailsillustrated OK. Let’s say, for example, if I were to tell you that I’m a physician with 20 years of experience, would you believe me? Would you have any reason to believe me?

My point is that most of us are here with avatars and screen names, and we keep our identity hidden. Anybody can claim to be anything, any gender, any age, and it’s dangerous to get your medical advice from an online anonymous forum.

@Rarebear That is true, but when the advice given coincides with the person’s stated experience, it can’t be that hard to believe. Trust is earned, not just given.

@shilolo I agree with you on your last point, particularly.

@Rarebear if you read any of the health or dental questions on here, you will see that no one is saying “it’s this’ or ’ do this cause it’s definitely this’ – you would see that given the subjective symptoms and maybe a visual description, a health care provider can point the person in the right direction, as well answer certain questions about a condition which has already been diagnosed. It’s advice, suggestions, and only that- if people don’t want to hear it then they shouldn’t be on a website asking about it. see?

@trailsillustrated I have read many of the medical questions on this site for many months. @shilolo is a doctor, and has earned credibility, and that’s fine. What concerns me is the “peanut gallery”. The “it could be this” or “it could be that”. On an online forum, when people are anonymous, I see it as being dangerous.

Let’s take, for example, the constipation-turned-appendicitis question from a year ago that @shilolo helped with. That’s great, and I’m glad the guy is okay now. Let’s say, however, that @shilolo didn’t see the question or wasn’t around. Someone suggested “smooth move tea” (whatever that is). Let’s further say that that person did get the smooth move tea and delayed treatment for a day or two more. Things could have turned out a lot worse. The questioner got lucky.

Your point is well taken, @Rarebear . I have been disconcerted by some of the advice given in my area of expertise, women’s health care. Jellies try to be helpful, and sometimes offer outdated information or give advice that has more to do with their personal experience than on science or research.

But your original question was asking opinions about doctors who give diagnoses and treatment online. None of the “peanut gallery” on that appendicitis thread claimed to be a doctor. When @shilolo weighed in, the other posters did not argue with him, they were happy to have his expertise.

Similarly, I have felt welcomed here on Fluther when I’ve shared OB/GYN information. Sometimes I preface my comments, with “I’m an NP” so jellies know where I’m coming from. I also try to provide good quality links to support my assertions, so that anyone with questions or doubts doesn’t have to just take my word for it.

I think the take home message is to consider the source regarding online advice. Not just medical. And part of assessing the advice is to take a closer look at anyone claiming to have expertise unless you feel you already know them well. Look for consistency and don’t hesitate to ask for sources.

@Rarebear – I don’t see a reason why diabetics can’t get advice on Fluther. As I said, this must be in addition to seeing doctors in the real world.

@MagsRags hit the nail on the head.

@MagsRags Fair enough, you’re right. I did ask about doctors. I should have phrased the question more generally about medical advice online.

@Rarebear I tend to agree with you that much of the medical advice provided on online forums comes from individuals’ anecdotal experience, which is a tenuous way to arrive at advice. Your example of the constipation thread is a good one. Medical training affords you the ability to see things more clearly, whereas the average lay person focuses on the constipation and says “I know how to fix that and suggests prunes, water, exercise, tea, suppositories, etc.” when in fact the constipation was not the primary problem.

As I said above, one needs to be cautious about what the advice is, but in our Web.MD world, everyone is an “expert”. I’ve been “called out” on multiple occasions because people (with little to no medical training) doubted my credentials and thought they “knew better”. It drove me to give up answering such questions, and I have only recently started doing it again, albeit at a much reduced rate.

@shilolo That’s wise to reduce your level of advice. There is this thread where you are mentioned quite a bit. You answered once, but wisely backed out. I think there run risks when someone presents themselves as a physician expert (It’s not the same, as for example, a computer, camera, or car expert) A lot of people on that thread said something like “Ask Shiolo, he’s a doctor” and that puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on you.

@mattbrowne The problem that I worry about is that people won’t see doctors in the real world, and rely on their online contacts. To me that’s dangerous. Some questions are okay to answer and some are decidedly not.

Using diabetes as an example, I think it’s fine, for instance, to get advice on, say, a diabetic diet. If someone were to ask, “Is a big slice of chocolate cake likely to increase my blood sugar levels and what are some alternatives?” is very different than, “My blood sugar was 50 when I woke up at 3 this morning sweating and shaking. Should I adjust my Lantus dose down?”

@Rarebear – I see that danger too. Therefore my initial comment was “Depends”.

Fluther will probably not have critical mass for the more complex diabetes questions. But the specialized forum I mentioned earlier might have. Many questions will require counter questions. Taking the Lantus example I would ask for example, how much unusual activity during the day or how much alcohol in the evening. An online forum can go beyond discussing diets. It’s a good idea when diabetics share their experience about insulin types and dosage adjustments. The problem is bad advice can have serious consequences. But this can happen in the real world too.