Side Effects: They Googled It
Patients are mining Reddit and TikTok for symptom intel while you're not — and a small study calls it epistemic injustice. Different knowledge, mutually unrecognized. Maybe ask where they've been reading before you wave it off as anecdote.
By
Kerri Miller
May 27, 2026
Clinical Scorecard: Side Effects: They Googled It
At a Glance
Category Detail
Condition Information Asymmetry in Patient-Provider Communication Key Mechanisms Epistemic injustice; differing sources of health information. Target Population Patients seeking health information online; clinicians unaware of patient sources. Care Setting Clinical settings where patient-provider interactions occur.
Key Highlights
Patients often use social media for health information, unlike clinicians. Patients report experiential knowledge from peer communities. Study highlights potential information asymmetry in healthcare. Focus groups included patients, researchers, and clinicians. Findings are hypothesis-generating, not practice-changing. Guideline-Based Recommendations
Diagnosis
Management
Monitoring & Follow-up
Risks
Patient & Prescribing Data
Patients with varying levels of health literacy and digital engagement.
Practitioners should recognize and understand patients' information sources.
Clinical Best Practices
Engage patients in discussions about their health information sources. Acknowledge the validity of patients' experiential knowledge. Related Resources & Content
