They found WebMD, along with its sister site Medscape, were the top recipients of industry dollars:. They're not alone in that regard. Many health companies rely on industry dollars as part of their business model. But those links raise thorny ethical questions, said James Yeh, a physician-researcher based at Brigham and Women's Hospital who has studied the influence of industry funding on medical information.
The site's editorial policy says that it upholds the journalistic principles of honesty and independence. When asked about how the site ensures independence, a WebMD spokesperson said, "The strict editorial practices we have in place ensure that the content we produce is unbiased, and the production of such content done so independent of third party control or influence.
But over the years, others have questioned — and found reason to critique — the site's relationship with drugmakers. In , Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to the site after finding that a WebMD quiz for depression, sponsored by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, was rigged to suggest everybody who took the test was at risk for major depression.
Naturally, that would make them a potential candidate for antidepressants, conveniently manufactured by Eli Lilly. In my own perusals of the site, I was bombarded with a dizzying number of ads for pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and sponsored content brought to me by drug companies. On some pages, there were so many ads that actual medical information was difficult to navigate. I also had to click through multiple pages to read anything on a single topic, forcing me to spend more time on the site and see more ads.
All in all, it was user unfriendly, and awash in advertising that might confuse someone looking for a solution to a health problem. Some parts of the site seem to be designed to turn users into patients. The site's popular symptom checker , which allows users to insert basic information about their age, sex, and symptoms, is a hypochondriac's worst nightmare.
A search for bloating in the lower abdomen suggested one could have anything from menstrual cramps to ovarian or colon cancers. A query on back pain spit out this terrifying list of potential possibilities: gas pains, shingles, ovarian cancer, acute kidney failure, and tick bites. No context — just a list of scary diagnoses. The pages on weight loss were a mixed bag. Information about weight loss supplements suggested green coffee supplements might help.
On the other hand, while the site dubiously claims it has "10 easy, painless ways to lose weight," the page actually included some reasonable, if obvious, tips: walk more, hydrate, share restaurant meals.
I also found problems with how the site conveys the effectiveness and possible side effects of some prescription drugs. When I visited the page on weight loss pills , an advertisement on meal replacement shakes popped up, as did an ad for the drug Qsymia — which is among the six drugs featured in the article:.
While the site's content is produced by a team of doctors and medical writers, the article failed to mention any basic information about the drug's effectiveness or how many people the drug was likely to help the number needed to treat, in medical parlance.
And some of the information was worryingly incomplete. For example, WebMD didn't note the serious side effects associated with the drug Contrave — it can cause severe, potentially fatal skin reactions and liver failure. But those were just my observations after spending a few hours on the site. Drug companies tend to have lots of cash to spend on advertising, a desire for large amounts of traffic, and getting permission to advertise prescription drugs on Google and other ad networks can be difficult.
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Complete rates again exceeded benchmarks. When analyzing data for a second client, the omega-3 supplement manufacturer MegaRed, WebMD found that many people learn about the importance of omega-3s when seeking general dietary guidance, not via specific searches. So, WebMD built on the insight that smokers who used real-life coaches to quit were more successful.
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