Editing WebMD (section)

== Criticism ==

Writing in ''[[The New York Times Magazine]]'' in 2011, [[Virginia Heffernan]] criticized WebMD for biasing readers toward drugs that are sold by the site's pharmaceutical sponsors, even when they are unnecessary.  She wrote that WebMD "has become permeated with pseudo-medicine and subtle misinformation."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Heffernan|first=Virginia|title=A Prescription for Fear|journal=The New York Times Magazine|date=February 6, 2011|page=MM14}}</ref>

[[Julia Belluz]] of [[Vox (website)|Vox]] criticized WebMD in 2016 ("The Truth about WebMD, a Hypochondriac's Nightmare and Big Pharma's Dream") for encouraging [[Hypochondriasis|hypochondria]] and for promoting treatments for which evidence of safety and effectiveness is weak or non-existent, such as [[Green coffee extract#Controversy|green coffee]] supplements for weight loss, [[Vagus nerve stimulation#Society and culture|vagus nerve stimulation]] for depression, and [[Fish oil#Cardiovascular|fish-oil/omega-3]] supplements for high cholesterol.<ref name="Belluz">{{cite news |first=Julia |last=Belluz |title=The Truth about WebMD, a Hypochondriac's Nightmare and Big Pharma's Dream |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/4/5/11358268/webmd-accuracy-trustworthy |date=April 5, 2016 |access-date=July 7, 2018 |archive-date=June 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614165803/https://www.vox.com/2016/4/5/11358268/webmd-accuracy-trustworthy |url-status=live }}</ref>

in 2012, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, MD, Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa and the medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, wrote an article entitled "Why I Can No Longer Trust Medscape".<ref name="Freedhoff">{{cite web |last1=Freedhoff, MD |first1=Yoni |title=Why I Can No Longer Trust Medscape |url=http://www.weightymatters.ca/2012/04/why-i-can-no-longer-trust-medscape.html |website=Weighty Matters |access-date=14 May 2022 |language=English |date=11 April 2012 |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101122916/http://www.weightymatters.ca/2012/04/why-i-can-no-longer-trust-medscape.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In it he wrote that Medscape is "putting patients at risk by actively misinforming their physicians."<ref name="Freedhoff" /> He also noted poor vetting of studies that Medscape chooses to publish as his reason for stating this.<ref name="Freedhoff" />

In 2016, a survey of doctors found WebMD and its sister company Medscape to have incomplete medical information lacking depth and also numerous cases of [[misinformation]] on their sites.<ref name="Belluz" /> A study of Medscape and WebMD also found both services to lack neutrality and exhibiting bias potentially based on very high payments (compared to their industry competitors) from the pharmaceutical industry.<ref name="Belluz" />