Why are more people going online for health information ? Just look at the headlines

About the Author

Richard Meyer is a passionate Internet DTC marketer with over 15 years of progressive experience in consumer marketing who`s worked on top pharmaceutical brands like Cialis, Prozac and Sarafem, as well as two years with Medtronic Diabetes. He is currently consulting for his own company, Online Strategic Solutions, and writes a DTC column for PM 360 magazine and blogs for Eye for Pharma in addition to his own blog, World of DTC Marketing.

First we heard how good Fish Oil could be for people who have high triglycerides, now a lawsuit filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court claims that the makers and sellers of certain supplements contain high levels of PCB compounds — man-made industrial chemicals — have failed to alert consumers as required under California’s right-to-know law. The Internet has provided consumers with a wealth of news sources but a lot of health news is confusing consumers whose only choice is to spend a lot of time online searching for truth.

According to Pew Internet the overwhelming majority of Americans (92%) use multiple platforms to get news on a typical day, including national TV, local TV, the internet, local newspapers, radio, and national newspapers. Some 46% of Americans say they get news from four to six media platforms on a typical day. Just 7% get their news from a single media platform on a typical day. If this is true you’re probably one confused consumer right now.

In the past month there have been stories about Fish Oil, Aspirin, Avandia, Asthma & Prostrate screening just to name a few. Who the hell are consumers supposed to believe and where can they go to get the information as it pertains to them ? The FDA website could be a great resource but it has the usability of trying to navigate a government system. The end result is that more and more consumers are spending more and more time trying to make sense out of all the conflicting news reports.

On the Internet everyone is an editor, thanks in part to social media. This means that people can say anything they want when it comes expressing their views on health, drugs and physicians. Research does suggest that people are using social media for health but it also suggests that they view social media health content as “personal opinions” which means they will either take it with a grain of salt or will take a deeper dive into the information to sort out credibility issues.

One thing is for certain right now and that is that health information that comes out today may not be valid tomorrow, next week or next month. Consumers and patients are confused and it seems the only way to get to the bottom line is to go online and search out the truth wherever it is.