I can't give medical advice

By neurophilosophy on February 10, 2008.

Every so often, I get an email from someone who is seeking advice on some medical issue. For example, I received this short message a few days ago:

I just came across your report on Risperdal, and was wondering what your take is on a 3 year old taking Seroquel? How about a dosage of 900 mg per day? My daughter has been on it for almost one year now. Please give me your honest feedback on this.

My honest opinion is that a 2- or 3-year-old child should not be prescribed any kind of antipsychotic. But that's just an opinion, and, I should stress, a non-professional one. I did not study medicine, so I am not qualified to give advice on such matters. Even if I was qualified, I don't think it would be appropriate to do so. So please do not contact me seeking medical advice, as such requests will be ignored.

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Mo, very possibly the blogger was seeking the opinion of a scientifically cultivated person - nothing more.

Medicine is a subset of science.

Without the absolute free exchange of ideas, there would be no objective science.

Scientific ontology says that there is an objective reality - an act of ontological "faith" according to Plank and Einstein.

Scientific epistemology says that we humans can know that objective reality.

Planck's famous dictum; "By their fruits you will know them."

You should be flattered that the blogger asked you - possibly an exercise in respect.

A parent who feels uncomfortable giving a medication to his/her child should get a second, third, and even fourth (if necessary) opinion from a qualified physician (probably psychiatrist for antipsychotics). Expecting to get good medical advice on the internet from someone who has never seen your child is not the appropriate avenue.

My respect for the author of this blog grows all the time. Your blog has actually helped me a great deal in my psychology classes! Keep up the good work!

Cheri, many psychiatrists are genuine witchdoctors who still mumble Freudian mugga, mugga, muggas.

Well, I guess we can rule you out as a shill for AstraZeneca...

Horribly OT I know, but are doctors being called shills if they support some sort of mainstream pharmaceutical as popular in the UK as here?

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