UNSOUND ADVICE. (Do medication reviews have a place on dooyoo?)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Do medication reviews have a place on dooyoo?
Date:	23/08/06 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None at all unless dealt with responsibly.

Disadvantages: People can be hurt.

Should there be a category for medicines on Dooyoo ?

In my opinion, it's a dangerous area. Imagine for example that vulnerable people access the site through the search engine on Google, and come across a review where inaccuracies lead them to believe there is that wonder drug out there, that suited one person who wrote a review. Medicine is very specialised and although we can write a review about the effect that a drug had on us, I would prefer to see it become a very small corner of the site, where members can write on “My experience of ..............” rather than having a specific drug category.

In the past couple of weeks, I have read many reviews on medicines and what is a worrying trend is that people state categorically that a certain drug causes problems. Drugs were manufactured with specific illnesses in mind, and maybe they do not suit you, or the side effects that you get are worthy of a mention, but I also believe that reading a frightening review on medicine that you may be taking can cause more problems and that rather than doing the public a service, we are questioning experts who really are the only ones that know what is good for our bodies.

On the other hand, people may be taking a drug prescribed to them and having the ordinary side effects that wear off, read a review on the site and stop taking essential medication because of reviews that they read, not realising that the side effects are temporary. It really is dangerous. The only person that can tell you whether you should be taking a drug is a doctor who knows you and your body, and if you are not satisfied with his answers, then asking a second professional opinion, rather than reading a review would be a wise way to go.

I have taken many treatments in the past and have experienced bad side effects, but there is so much information already out there on the internet that I do not believe that a review by me on a drug is of use to the public. I am not an expert. I am a patient that suffered certain symptoms under certain circumstance, had the sense to go to my doctor and change the medicine. The same medicine is taken by many people that I am aware of, and for them it's a life saver.

The trouble with medical reviews is that people make mistakes. They may be taking many medicines at the same time, and the problem that exists may not actually be caused by the drug they are talking about, but more a combination of the drugs that that person takes, plus the psychological effects of illness combined with the biochemical reaction of their body using those drugs. It's a grey area. None of us are the same, and none of us (or few that I am aware of) are actually qualified to review drugs, or to give advice on other people taking them.

An example here is that many people with constant pain will try anything. In my own personal experience, my husband, for example, was taking what the doctor decided was a lethal cocktail. Why ? Because he wanted to reduce his pain and would do anything to achieve it. Going to a pain control clinic, he learned that the mixture that he was taking was doing him more harm than just taking a few of the correct drugs. It's too dangerous. We do not know what mixtures of drugs people are taking and I really believe that people can be mislead, not through deceit of any kind, but by ignorance of drug useage.

This isn't an opportunist review, jumping on the bandwagon. I was so concerned about the drug reviews on the site that I contacted a guide to ask dooyoo what they thought, and the category appeared. I really hope people do consider very carefully the effects of writing an inaccurate medicine review. If in doubt, go to your doctor. Don't take the advice of a review on a website. They do not know your medical history.

Rachel

Summary: No to drug reviews.