On 04-15-94 13:39, Sam Uretsky and Ronald Kavanagh discussed "Re: Don't
know? Don't an":

SU--But, to conclude my original premise - patient's should ask
SU--their MDs.  The fact that questions are still posted here, and answer
SU--imperfectly, seems to indicate that we (MD, RPh together) have failed
SU--fulfill our professional responsibilities, at least on a nation wide
SU--That's the price of economy.

RK--So do something about it. But not by answering DI questions in a forum
RK--where you're guarenteed to give inappropriate information, and thus
RK--likely to harm patients.

I am gratified that my original "Don't know? Don't answer!"  post generated
such thoughtful discussion. I have to say I come down on RK's side. The
major failure to fulfill our professional responsibilities here in this
newsgroup is that of not discouraging irresponsible requests
for irresponsible net.prescribing by people who ought to be discussing
thier questions with their pharmacists and prescribing physicians.

_______________________________________________________

              82 Perry, Brookline MA 02146-6907 USA
              or: Dept. of Psychiatry, UMass Med Ctr, Worcester MA 01605 USA
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 * WaveRdr 1.10 # 212 * The young know the rules, the old know the exceptions.

On 04-15-94 23:46, Steve Dyer wrote to ALL about "Re: Don't know? Don't
an":

SD--I'll let my behavior here and in sci.med stand on its own merits.

   >So do something about it. But not by answering DI questions in a f
   >where you're guarenteed to give inappropriate information, and thu
   >likely to harm patients.

SD--This is the crux of the argument, and one where I completely disagree
SD--with Kavanaugh.  I think it's perfectly possible to answer questions
SD--abotu {*filter*} when the topic does not concern itself with clinical
SD--matters.  

Steve, I agree with you here. I appreciate your posts. I think you and
Kavanaugh are not as far apart as you would each have it, and you might
take a breath and think about that. You would both agree about the
important distinction between being pharmacologically informed and
clinically expert. Posting from the first basis would seem to me to be
appropriate, from the second to be completely inappropriate. As a
physician, I refuse to diagnose or treat over the phone, and I think doing
so over the net is analogous. But let's use this newsgroup for
well-informed pharmacological discussion!

_______________________________________________________

              82 Perry, Brookline MA 02146-6907 USA
              or: Dept. of Psychiatry, UMass Med Ctr, Worcester MA 01605 USA
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 * WaveRdr 1.10 # 212 * Yes, I know I'm off-topic.  Thank you for your concern