Medical Advice

[PerverseConverse]

After a couple of threads today where posters have posted about potentially life threatening conditions/accidents I feel that there needs to be some kind of action on medical advice threads. The majority of mumsnet posters are not medically qualified to give advice and often give incorrect and dangerous advice based on anecdotal experience of their own or their neighbour's second cousin twice removed rather than evidence based research. It's very dangerous. Why are medical advice posts even allowed? Mumsnet cannot take the place of proper medical advice and in the UK there are many sources of medical advice freely available rather than asking unqualified strangers on the internet.
I'm not sure how you'd police it but as a health care professional myself I really think these types of posts shouldn't be permitted.

On the general health board there are warnings.

On other threads asking for advice be it health, divorce or educstion it is sensible for everyone to remember it is only a chat forum.

Maybe MN should put a sticky on every page saying don't believe everything and seek assistance irl from an appropriate professional?.

I'm sure if you report each and every instance of someone giving medical advice MN will post on the thread to advise of being careful with what you read on the internet

Hi there @PerverseConverse,

We do appreciate your concerns, and it is something we're aware of it, but we don't think it would be right to not let medical issues be posted about at all. We do remind all posters that in no way is Mumsnet a replacement for help in real life, and that if they are concerned about anything, they should visit a registered medical professional. If you see some medical advice that you think might be incorrect on a thread, we'd encourage you to post on the thread and share your opinion.

We hope you understand where we're coming from, and do let us know if you have any more questions about this.