This article is from the WebMD Commentary Archive

Feb. 24, 2005 -- Every day, WebMD reports the results of studies conducted by researchers and published in medical journals. And sometimes, users who object to a study's methods or conclusions take aim at WebMD, in effect shooting the messenger. Often their anger is misplaced, but in some cases, the messenger could do a better job of telling the whole story.

A common misperception is that WebMD actually conducts research on which it reports. For example, responding to a recent WebMD news article about a study on mammographystudy on mammography, one user wrote, "Next time, get a larger cross-section of the population before spouting your health propaganda!" Apparently, the reader missed the part of the article stating that the study had been done by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston - not WebMD.

Likewise, another WebMD user, commenting on an article about research on marijuanaresearch on marijuana, asked: "Who funded your study?" Still another was outraged over a study about the effects of growing up in single-parent households, writing: "You shouldn't generalize especially since there are so many single-parent homes."

In response to such comments, WebMD representatives tell users that WebMD is not responsible for the research; it simply acts as a medical town crier, factually relaying news from back at the research facility. Users are free, they say, to accept, reject or ignore what they hear. And any complaints should be taken up with the researchers or the medical journals that published the study.

Though all those points are valid, I think the response lets WebMD off the hook too easily. Yes, WebMD is only a messenger. But a messenger can relay the same facts in different ways. For example, if a plane crashes with 300 people on board, I might spread the word that "miraculously, two-thirds survived." Or instead I could say that "tragically, 100 died." Both would be accurate. But they would convey different messages, and neither, by itself, would tell the entire story.