How to Evaluate Medical Information Found on the Internet (February 25, 1999)
These pages have some suggestions for judging the reliability and quality of
health and medical information found via internet resources, from staff of the
Food & Drug Administration (FDA), plus additional commentary by CMA Library staff.
Is this Site Reliable?
[While written with drug information in mind, these points apply to health and
medical information in general, too.]
FDA staff and others familiar with Internet medical offerings suggest asking the
following questions to help determine the reliability of a Web site:
- Who maintains the site? Government or university-run sites are among the best
sources for scientifically sound health and medical information. Private practitioners
or lay organizations may have marketing, social or political agendas that can
influence the type of material they offer on-site and which sites they link to.
- Is there an editorial board or another listing of the names and credentials of
those responsible for preparing and viewing the site's contents? Can these people
be contacted by phone or through E-mail if visitors to the site have questions or
want additional information?
- Does the site link to other sources of medical information? No reputable
organization will position itself as the sole source of information on a particular
health topic.
On the other hand, links alone are not a guarantee of reliability, notes Lorrie
Harrison of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Since anyone with
a Web page can create links to any other site on the Internet - and the owner of
the site that is "linked to" has no say over who links to it - then a person
offering suspect medical advice could conceivably try to make his or her advice
appear legitimate by, say, creating a link to FDA's Web site. What's more, health
information produced by FDA or other government agencies i
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