Re: Canadian doctors coming to the US
From: Orac (orac_at_mac.com)
Date: 08/29/04
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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 20:33:32 GMT
In article <cgt8fn$22fi@odds.stat.purdue.edu>,
hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) wrote:
> In article <orac-A727DC.21270928082004@news4-ge1.srv.hcvlny.cv.net>,
> Orac <orac@mac.com> wrote:
> >In article <cgra53$4a0m@odds.stat.purdue.edu>,
> > hrubin@odds.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) wrote:
>
> >> In article <41309b16$0$18253$79c14f64@nan-newsreader-05.noos.net>,
> >> Lictor <ghostmlNOSPAM-REMOVE@online.fr> wrote:
>
> [Snip]
>
> ....................
>
> >> Without advertising, you would not even know of the
> >> existence of the products. If you are relying on the
> >> government for information, you are a total fool.
>
> >If you are relying on advertising for information, you are even more of
> >a fool. Advertising exists to sell people something and thus make money
> >for the person doing the selling. That's its only purpose when it comes
> >to commercial products. If there weren't laws regulating what
> >advertisers can claim, they would exaggerate, distort, and even lie as
> >much as required to entice you to buy their product. (Indeed, they
> >routinely did so 100 years ago.) Even with the meager controls on what
> >advertisers can claim that do exist, advertisers routinely make
> >exaggerated and distorted claims.
>
> >Sorry, but as untrustworthy as the government is, in this case, I'd say
> >it's less foolish to rely on the government for information than it
> >would be to rely on advertising.
>
> For most products, the government is a useless source
> of information, and is very poor at providing information
> about the existence of products at all.
At least its purpose is not to get you to buy the products it's giving
information about. The same cannot be said about advertising.
>I get medical
> information from many sources, of which the government
> is the least important.
Really? Do you use MedLine? If you use Medline, you are using a
government-run and government-maintained database of biomedical journals
and articles dating back to 1966. True, the government is not
responsible for the content of individual journals or articles, but it
IS responsible for the database itself and the web-based interface that
makes it so easy for even scientists, doctors, and lay people all over
the world to find peer-reviewed articles in biomedical journals and
browse the abstracts online. As recently as the 1980's, we still had to
use the Index Medicus, which was way more difficult, as you may recall.
Let's not forget the human
> Medical information is often found in medical journals,
> and the government may provide webpages for some of it,
> essentially unevaluated.
Sorry, but you really appear not to know what you're talking about here.
Have you ever browsed http://www.cancer.gov? That's the website of the
National Cancer Institute. There are hundreds, if not thousands of
articles that evaluate the evidence and provide treatment
recommendations and evaluations of drugs based on the latest literature.
There is a section for lay people and a section for health care
professionals for each cancer. Ever browse http://health.nih.gov or
http://www.healthfinder.gov? These are websites run by the NIH that do
essentially the same thing but are not limited to cancer. Ever see
http://clinicalcenter.nih.gov? That is a listing of clinical trials that
patients might be interested in participating in. What
about?http://www.accessdata.fda.gov? It contains a searchable database
of information about drugs, both prescription and nonprescription.
>If someone produces a new
> product of any kind, I do not expect to see it in a
> government announcement first.
Strawman. I never claimed that you would.
> Which government publication would you use to get information
> about cars, refrigerators, TV sets, etc.?
About cars? Try http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov. It lists all the government
crash test data, has a section listing safety issues and problems with
consumer complaints for individual car models, recalls, rollover
statistics, etc.. The other products you mention, I don't know.
>Or about medical
> or dental services in your community? You will have to start
> with advertising announcements, and THEN look for less biased
> sources about the advertised products.
That is not unreasonable. However, your blanket assertion that the
government is a "useless" source of information, is still simply
incorrect. Perhaps YOU personally find it "useless," but I assure you
that I (and many others) do not. Is it the be-all and end-all? Of course
not. Is it nearly useless for some areas? Sure. But just "useless"?
Definitely not. Simply because the government doesn't provide
information about products that is all-encompassing is not a reason to
dismiss it as "useless."
--
Orac |"A statement of fact cannot be insolent."
|
|"If you cannot listen to the answers, why do you
| inconvenience me with questions?"
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