Is realself.com Really Real? – Ask Dr Molten

05 Aug Is realself.com Really Real? – Ask Dr Molten

QUESTION

Is realself.com really real?

Dr Molton replied

I realise now my mistake. I did think that Realself.com would be a great resource for patients researching treatments. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really eminent doctors contributing to this site, but then I looked at the patient posts. I’m confident that some are real and I am confident that most observers would realise many are possibly unreal.

Thinking about it now, the patient most likely to publish a comment, is the patient who was unfortunate enough to have problems and/or a bad experience. That approach is not very scientific because we don’t see the thousands of patients who are satisfied with their procedure and the delivery of their service.

In my experience, having seen and/or treated over 30,000 patients in twenty years, most, but not all patients have a clear understanding that medical procedures even in the best hands can result in complications. Unfortunately people who have had the best outcome are less likely to post than those who have not. Not a helpful balance in my thinking.

From here on I no longer recommend Realself.com as a helpful resource to my patients.