Posted by SLS on September 6, 2001, at 15:50:23
In reply to Re: Quite Dangerous! If you're an idiot., posted by kid47 on September 6, 2001, at 11:56:33
> Everybody has a good point in here....
It's true.
I guess it is a fine line to walk. With 20/20 hindsight, I guess fewer people would have been alarmed had Sal simply posted the URLs for the home pages of the sites themselves instead of for each specific drug.
I don't think too many people appreciate the scope and depth of a doctor's training and knowledge. It gives him the ability to recognize or anticipate seemingly unrelated events and deduce their causes, effects, associations, and remedies.
On a similar note, we don't emerge from the womb knowing which cytochrome P450 enzyme might be responsible for changing the pharmacokinetics of Lamictal once Depakote is added to it. How many of us are aware that a potentially fatal reaction known as serotonin syndrome can emerge when lithium is added to Prozac? I am - and I'm not a doctor. Far from it.
So, who is willing to take the responsibility for a death? How much do we really know about the exotic drug combinations that are sometimes suggested - especially in light of the comments frequently made about how little we know about the long-term effects of these drugs when they are taken alone? Are there sufficient numbers of people and years of experience to be confident of their safety for all individuals - especially when foreign drugs are involved? I don't know. I do know that sometimes taking risks is justified.
Of course, there is an abundance of accurate information and intelligent judgments that are probably uncommon to find on the Internet. At least now I know not to drink grapefruit juice when taking certain drugs.
Whenever I post something, I try to take into consideration that there is probably a sizable percentage, perhaps a majority, of people who know very little when they first arrive at PB and begin posting. This is indeed evidenced by the number of "beginner's" questions that appear regularly. How about the "lurkers"? How many of these people are just beginning to research their illnesses and assume that PB is a source of established medical knowledge and advice. Look at the big words some of us use. It is very understandable how this mistake can be made. Not everyone carries a salt-shaker around with them.
Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts on the subject.
(I don't think I have ever read the full text of the disclaimer at the top of the page. Perhaps I'm unique in this regard).
- Just Another Idiot
poster:SLS
thread:77901
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010902/msgs/78050.html