Medical Hoaxes: Check for the Facts

This past week, I read an article that included information supposedly written by the Dali Lama. A quick look at Snopes www.snopes.com verified my suspension. It made me think how nice it would be if there was a one stop shop to check out the various medically related hoaxes and urban legends. However, these come in such a variety it’s not so easy to figure out what’s what. True there is a medical section of Snopes and that is a good place to check for general medically related stories that you receive by e-mail. However, this is generally not the place to learn about specific treatments for a condition.

Whether it’s an in person or on line support groups, we’ve all heard “I just read an article…” It’s important that people affected by chronic and/or life threatening illnesses recognize that they are the favorite prey of the scam artist and snake oil salesmen. If the article, e-mail or story sounds “too good to be true,” it probably is.

So the next time you hear of some amazing medical discovery, cure or treatment, before you forward it via e-mail or support group, or actually try it, consider the following:

• Know the source of the information. If there is money to be gained be cautious. If the information is from a website, who operates and sponsors the site; how current is the information. If the site doesn’t provide detailed information about who writes the site, how its funded and whose behind it, that’s a red flag. If they say they are an MD or a medical professional, run a check on them to verify they are who they say they are.

• Be aware of the tell tale signs of a hoax. According to Hoax Busters, these signs include:
- a sense of urgency (they will use terms like urgent, warning, important, virus alert or this is not a joke
- the request to share information by forwarding to everyone in your e-mail address book
- the text may contain some form of corroboration, such as “my friends works for such and such medical center and he or she says.”
- There are lots of arrows showing that the e-mail has been forwarded frequently.

• Contact the national Association, or local chapter, associated with your condition, e.g. American Cancer Society

• For complementary or Alternative Therapies (CAM), such as yoga, vitamins, supplements, acupuncture etc.) check out:
- Mayo Clinic: Complementary and Alternative medicine: Evaluate Treatment Claims. Has a good Q & A section.
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (this is part of the National Institutes of Health)

• Quackwatch: This is an interesting site to check out but use it cautiously. Quackwatch is an international network of people who are concerned about health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. Its primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. Founded by Dr. Stephen Barrett in 1969 as the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud (Allentown, Pennsylvania), it was incorporated in 1970. In 1997, it assumed its current name and began developing a worldwide network of volunteers and expert advisors. Quackwatch is closely affiliated with the National Council Against Health Fraud, where one of the board members is Dr. Stephen Barrett founder of Quackwatch.

• If you are in a support group (on-line or in-person) and someone brings up a new treatment or research study, ask questions. A lot of people in the early years of the AIDS epidemic tried all sorts of “home remedies,” from the use of photo chemicals to tons of vitamins and garlic. Some people became very ill from these “home grown” experiments. However, that is not to dismiss the “e-patient” movement, whereby actual clinical trials are being run via websites like Patients Like Me. Learn more about being an e-patient.

• Talk to your medical provider. They are in a good position to discuss how realistic the information sounds, how it might relate to your situation, and can monitor the situation if you should try something new. Since you may have more time to “surf” the web, and attend support groups, some providers rely on their patients to provide them with treatments and alternative therapies that are being explored. They will want to see copies of articles, or links that they can check out. Keep in mind that if you start going to every office visit with a stack of new articles about treatments for your condition, you’re going to frustrate your provider in fairly short order.

One of the most frustrating things about the digital age is how much e-mail is a rumor, hoax or urban legend. If everyone took the time to check out the accuracy of what they are forwarding, instead of clicking the send button, we could reduce this problem significantly.

For more information on this topic, go to Scams, Fraud and Quacks.