Side Effects: They Googled It - Scorecard - MDSpire
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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

  • 6 min

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Clinical Scorecard: Side Effects: They Googled It

At a Glance

CategoryDetail
ConditionInformation Asymmetry in Patient-Provider Communication
Key MechanismsEpistemic injustice; differing sources of health information.
Target PopulationPatients seeking health information online; clinicians unaware of patient sources.
Care SettingClinical 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

          Original Source(s)

          Side Effects: They Googled It

          • by Kerri Miller

          • May 27, 2026

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