Why Wikipedia Is Wrong When It Comes To Prescription Medicine
Posted November 26, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s been called the world’s best encyclopedia and touted as the perfect example of knowledge dissemination in the new millennium.
That’s not to say Wikipedia is problem-free.
Just ask Stephen Colbert, who years ago edited the site to say that the elephant population of Africa had tripled – a fact that reflected wikiality instead of reality.
But other problems aren’t so funny.
In fact, they could be downright dangerous.
A study out of Nova Southeastern University in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida looked at entries on 80 different drugs.
Dr. Kevin A. Clauson and his colleagues found that though there were few factual errors, important information was often missing.
Many patients, he noted, type the name of their prescription and over-the-counter medicine into a search engine such as Google to find out more information. Wikipedia is often one of the first pages that pop up with an explanation.
And though the information isn’t wrong, it’s what left out that has doctors and pharmacists worried.
In one glaring exception, Clauson noted, an anti-inflammatory drug known as Arthrotec can cause pregnant women to miscarry – but that wasn’t mentioned.
In another, he explained that St. John’s Wort can interfere with the action of the HIV drug Prezista – another side effect you wouldn’t find on the user-edited site.
So what information can you trust? Well, here are three great sites – and your own doctor is still the best resource.
Image credit: Wikipedia
