Beware of Misinformation

BEWARE OF MISINFORMATION

Inside Fibromyalgia with Mark Pellegrino, M.D.
Copyright 2001 Anadem Publishing Inc.
Reprinted with permission

Not all information is medically accurate or helpful especially Internet information. You need to be careful how you use it. Let's face it, as a group, we are more vulnerable to misinformation. Because of our severe chronic pain we may be more desperate for help, feel overwhelmed, have difficulty conccentrating and processing information, may be more emotional and easy influenced and be more easily convinced to try new products. Unfortunately there are companies out there waiting to take advantage of us. They try to entice us with products that they claim will help us: help us spend our money, that is!

Here are 13 things to watch for to avoid being unlucky.

1)     It sounds to good to be true. Like the old adage in investments, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Trust your fibromyalgia knowledge and don't let your hope override good common sense.

2)     It will cure fibromyalgia. There is no cure for fibromyalgia. There are a lot of treatments for fibromyalgia but if the proposed treatment uses the word "cure", stay away from it.

3)     The product involves multilevel marketing. The main reason to avoid these is that they are expensive. You have to pay five other people's profits when you purchase the product.

4)     The product involves a secret technique of formula. If the promoter fails to disclose specific information about the product or how it works, stay away from it. I know a massotherapist who promoted a unique technique that gave great results but would not disclose the technique: you have to pay $2000.00 to join this "special program". It turns out that the techniques used are commonly used by massotherapists.

5)     The product is supported by personal testimonies only. Consider this typical story for a product:
Poor Michael used to be so active, but then he developed fibromyalgia and couldn't get out of bed. Then one day, he discovered Fibro-Be-Gone and began taking it. Within one week, his fibromyalgia symptoms were all gone. Now he is running three miles a day, skiing on weekends, and working full-time as the owner of a company that sells Fibro-Be-Gone.

This type of sensational advertising based on personal testimony is designed only to sell you a product. Maybe a particular product worked for a particular person, but everyone is a unique individual who responds different to treatments.

6)     Questionable medical qualifications. Many times the supposed "medical professional" has no actual medical credentials. On the internet anyone can be a medical professional. Individuals can mislead you by putting M.D. after their name. There is no law that prohibits someone from putting initials including M.D., D.O., or D.C. after their name. The M.D. can mean Macarena dancer.

To avoid becoming a victim of fraud or misinterpretation, ask about credentials. And do research. If the person says he or she is a medical doctor but won't disclose what medical school was attended or give any specific information about medical training then this person is probably a fraud.

7)     Medical recommendations are made by non-medical professionals.
Unfortunately many non-physicians try to make diagnoses and medical treatment recommendations to people with medical conditions such as fibromyalgia. This is illegal. If the person giving the advice is misrepresenting himself/herself as a licensed physician this is fraud. The privilege of making medical diagnoses and treatment recommendations should be reserved for those who dedicated many years of their life to obtain medical knowledge and training and who maintain current medical license. If you follow fraudulent medical advise you could be injured. According to the American Medical Association and the Federal Trade Commission there is little investigation or enforcement on Internet fraud regarding falsely impersonating a medical doctor or giving medical advice without a license. Check qualifications before you deem a source credible no matter how good this person sounds. Call the AMA, the State Medical Board or the local medical society office if you have a question about a doctor's qualifications.

8)     The promoter has a vested financial interest in the product. I recently received a flyer in the mail that said "A very special workshop is about to take place in your area." The flyer then described a doctor who was experiencing great results with fibromyalgia patients using a new product. It reported "In just 11 weeks he increased his monthly revenue by $4000.00 and is enjoying his practice like never before.

The promoter of this product was trying to entice me to pay for the workshop, become a distributor and try to encourage my patients to use this product. The promoters benefit financially from this arrangement, thus they have a vested financial interest. How can you trust the promoters of this product to be unbiased when giving you information about the products?

9)     The Promoter of the product has a painful condition - fibromyalgia. Beware of the person who knows exactly how you feel because he/she has the condition and has just the product for you to get rid of the condition.

10)     High pressure marketing system. What better way to get our money than to use fancy sales pitches, brightly colored literature, catchy slogans and so forth and so on. If you feel that you are being presented with a heavy marketing pitch, you are. Don't buy things because you feel pressured into doing so.

11)     A video tape or audio cassette comes with the marketing kit. I've learned to stay away from products that have any type of tape that comes with the marketing kit!

12)     The product is unavailable anywhere else. Two problems with this. If it is not available anywhere else maybe it is not really a good product. If you can't compare this product with something else then stay away from it.

13)     Your doctor won't know anything about this product. This is a double whammy. Not only does the promoter try to convince you that your physician is misinformed but tries to qualify themselves as knowledgeable people who will inform you instead of your doctor. Don't get suckered in by this technique.

I'm not saying that no product can be helpful if one of the 13 red flags above is raised. Nor am I saying that someone who has fibromyalgia can't give you helpful advice or recommend products. I know many caring credible business people who sell products pr services for people with fibromyalgia. I am simply telling you to be cautious and don't act upon your emotions or a pressure market sell. If a red flag goes up, STOP and agree that you ate going to take the pressure off yourself and defer any decision until a later time after you have done some research. Spur of the moment decisions are costly ones, so make your decision LATER.

I have some strong feelings about those who prey on people with fibromyalgia. I can be diplomatic though and say simply that it is your responsibility to avoid being an unsuspecting victim.