Medical Advice

[Brooke]

I was reading the backpages of the forum and saw something that reminded me of another forum I use. The post I read wasn't asking for advice (I don't think) and I can't find it again but...

On med student/physicians forums, a lot of people tend to troll around and chance at asking for medical advice. They "cleverly" try to disguise it by asking as if they are doing homework, or something. It's usually obvious when it isn't a regular forum user. On the main forum I use, these posts are deleted immediately and I think the person gets banned from the site. The post I saw here was answered by at least one person, and it's risky! Even when anonymous, there are serious legal issues when it comes to that.

Just something I thought I would mention.

[yeliab_cram]

If someone comes on a medical student website, masqurading as a medical student asking another medical student for a clinical opinion, which they then take to be reliable health advice which subsequently leads to harm, then i think they have a pretty rubbish case.

They have essentially lied to get information for personal gain. The medical student involved would have had no knowledge that this was the case and would not be directing the other party to act on this advice anyway.

If you can find any examples of a case such as this even getting to court let alone being prosecuted i would be astounded.

[M Clayton]

http://www.newmediamedicine.com/index.php?page=tou

This is a forum for healthcare professionals and healthcare professionals in training and is not meant for the general public. Users asking for medical advice will have their posts removed and may be banned.

We (the moderating team) do our best to catch all posts asking for medical advice and I think we do a pretty good job of it. Of course, any member of the site can report a suspicious post and we'll have a good look at it before deciding what to do.

In general terms, I agree with Marc - anyone seeking personal medical advice on the forum is taking a risk and should assume all liability. You certainly can't blame a well intentioned forum user if things go wrong. Be that as it may, our policy is clear and, I hope, helps to avoid the problem.

[yeliab_cram]

We (the moderating team) do our best to catch all posts asking for medical advice and I think we do a pretty good job of it.

You do indeed Mark, credit where it's due!