When Cindy Bossi was faced with a choice between spinal fusion procedures last year she turned to the Internet for help in making her decision. The Southington resident didn’t perform random searches, but investigated sites recommend­ed by her physician.

“It does give you information your doctor doesn’t always give you,” said Bossi, who became just the second person in the state to undergo an alternative treatment that preserves mo­tion and spinal alignment. “You’re actually seeing what the thing looks like.”

“I never Googled anything,” she said. “To this day I’ve never Googled anything.”

In the age of the World Wide Web, more and more people are turning to the Internet for med­ical and health information, raising concerns about the reli­ability of the information they’re likely to encounter. The Center for Medicine in the Pub­lic Interest recently released a report that found that popular search engines, like Google, can reveal links that provide mis­leading information that in some cases could be dangerous to health.

“We started finding that most people’s searches are not very systematic,” said Robert Goldberg, one of the center’s founders and its director of programs. “It’s hit and run.”
Google searches were more likely to refer to sites that had biased or unverified informa­tion, or sites belonging to legal firms looking for potential clients, the report found. Searches also reveal forums, blogs, alternative treatment sites and activist sites.

The report, called “The Em­powered (and Imperiled) Health Care Consumer in the Age of Internet Medicine,” con­cludes that “online information can add tremendous value for patients when used as a re­search tool for discussions with a doctor, but users should be aware of the sources of the in­formation they find online and possible ulterior motives of site owners.”

“The irony is that the most reputable sites are the ones that are sort of buried,” said Gold­berg. “And while people do use these sites, when it comes to medicine and side effects they often do the quick-hits type of thing, and that’s where we’re running into trouble in the health care system.”

Reliable resources

There is, of course, a tremen­dous amount of valuable infor­mation online, and physicians tend to consider a well-in­formed patient an asset.
“It’s very important that the patient understands that you just don’t Google something,” said Dr. Christopher Michos, director of the emergency de­partment at Waterbury Hospi­tal. “You have to be a little bit suspicious.”

“There are many unscrupu­lous people promising miracle cures and taking advantage of people who are desperate,” said Ellen Brassil, library manager for the Hospital of Central Con­necticut Health Sciences Li­brary, which operates both in New Britain and Southington.

“So it’s extremely important that when people go to the In­ternet that they turn to quality resources, or reliable resources, which is where we come in.”

The hospital’s library pro­vides medical and health infor­mation to the public free of charge. Those interested can call the library at (860) 224­5900, ext. 2570, or e-mail to nbghlibrary@nbgh.org. “We feel strongly, knowing that there’s a wide range of re­sources, that it is critical that people connect with the most reliable information out there, because so much of what you encounter on the Internet is not,” said Brassil.

Meriden’s MidState Medical Center offers a similar service out of the Tremaine Resource Center.

“We gladly put together a packet of information that meets their needs,” said Wendy Urciuoli, the medical librarian. “We try to educate people about reliable sites and how to question to make sure informa­tion is reliable.” The Tremaine center is open to the public and responds to requests by phone at (203) 694-8131 or via e-mail at tremaine@midstatemedical.org.The ready information that is available on the Internet has in­creased the chances of patients arriving for doctor’s visits armed with self-diagnosis or challenges to accepted medical practices. But the Internet can also provide a valuable re­source, particularly in an era when physicians can’t always spend a great deal of time with patients.

“If anything, it’s more chal­lenging today because of the sheer volume,” said Brassil. “Here’s an area where we can really help.”

“There are lots of supportive Web sites that can assist pa­tients when they have a diagno­sis and help them with a treat­ment plan,” said Dr. Gary F. Tansino, a medical oncologist at MidState.

“What it can do is validate what a physician tells them,” he said.

Support groups

The Web can also provide a source of support and security, and give patients the opportu­nity to network with support groups.

Tansino recommends that patients explore such options in consultation with their physicians; that they “don’t leave that person out of the loop.”

“Just to have that informa­tion in avoid is when you get into problems,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for the consumer to say, now, what do I do?” said Michos. “They have to have a partnership with their own physician.”

For those who can’t resist poking around on their own, the report by the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest offers tips on how to verify re­sources. Questions include who runs the site, how is it paid for, and how is the information doc­umented? The report is online, via www.cmpi.org.

The Medical Library Associ­ation also provides a list of 100 “health Web sites you can trust” via its consumer and patient health information section. Reach it online at www.caphis.mlanet.org/con­sumer.