Six ways GEMS doctors got basic medical information wrong

TimesLIVE has revealed how PR staffers‚ working for Martina Nicholson Associations‚ responded to GEMS members who asked to "Dr Joe" for health advice on dealing with health problems.

GEMS Chief Medical Officer Vuyo Gqola told TimesLIVE: "We can confirm that all Dr Joe enquiries are reviewed and answered by one of two qualified medical practitioners‚ both of whom hold a medical degree and are registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

As part of this process the enquiries are received from members and are then passed on through the internal GEMS channels to the medical team‚ who will refer it on to a qualified medical advisor.

In other words‚ medical information or advice used for the responses emanate from qualified medical practitioners." TimesLIVE checked out some of the answers‚ and sent them to three qualified doctors and one pharmacist to correct.

Here are six answers where incorrect or incomplete medical advice was given by the two GEMS' doctors (if you believe GEMS' claims).

1. When the "doctor" needed Web MD to describe what chilblains were. Dr Joe reads: “Chilblains are small‚ itchy‚ red‚ painful bumps on your skin. When your skin gets cold‚ the tiny vessels under your skin become narrow. Then‚ if the body heats up again too quickly‚ some of blood may leak out…” The answer on this question on WebMD reads: “Chilblains are small red itchy bumps on your skin usually in the areas where you feel cold the most; toes‚ fingers‚ nose and ears… When the skin gets cold‚ the tiny blood vessels under skin become narrow. When your body heats up again‚ it is thought that some blood may leak out causing the swelling…”

2. A mother asks about her child with concentration problems at school. Dr Joe recommends healthy food such as eggs and fish as brain food to help a child with Attention Deficient Disorder calling it "brain food". "Eating 'brain food' for concentration problems etc. is nonsense‚" said a doctor.

3. In one question‚ a women‚ who asks about having a baby at 39‚ is falsely assured that the likelihood of falling pregnant in her late 30s is similar to that in her late 20s‚ which is not true. The answer from Dr Joe states: "However‚ recent studies have shown that the chances of being pregnant in your late 30s are slightly less than in your late 20s.

In real terms this translates to an 82% versus an 86% chance of becoming pregnant within the space of a year. This is if there are no other fertility problems‚ such as endometriosis or blocked tubes. Fertility declines with age. Having said that‚ some women can get pregnant at 40 with relative ease." A doctor who spoke to TimesLIVE said: "The figures are obviously made up. In fact fertility declines drastically after age 35."

The doctor provided information that‚ "it is very rare to fall pregnant at 40". The doctor was sceptical a fellow colleague would have approved such an answer‚ as the statistics were blatantly incorrect.

4. A woman asked if her asymmetric breasts made her more likely to get cancer. The answer suggested an annual mammogram - which is incorrect. Mammograms emit radiation and as a result are not recommended too often or too young.

A doctor told TimesLIVE: "Having a mammogram every year is not correct. They should start earliest at age 40 and then only every two years."

5. In one question‚ the person asks about changing blood pressure medications and while it is not recommended to give medication online to a patient they haven't examined‚ the doctor does so.

“The doctor has changed my medicine from Amiloretic to Amloch 5mg for my Hypertension. Is it safe to change after taking Amiloretic for many years?” The doctor replies: "Thank you for writing to me. It is indeed safe to change to Amloc‚ even if you have been using Amiloretic for a long time."

Pharmacist Shafrudeen Amod said: "I can give you a number of contra-indications to a patient taking amlodipine (Amloc)." This was him explaining in some cases this drug is not recommended for certain patients using other medications. It is not legal to give medical advice to someone over the Internet without a full examination and medical history. "There is no doctor-patient relationship in existence. It is a slippery slope when a health care provider provides advice over the internet‚ more so with no patient medical history."

6. A parent of the child with repeated pneumonia asks for help and gets what a doctor told TimesLIVE was "nonsense". A paediatrician reviewed the answer and said the answer suggesting more antibiotics‚ fluid and a vaccine wasn’t enough for this sick child. The child needs much more including a full medical history taken‚ other symptoms noted‚ a physical exam done and various tests performed. This is why asking for medical advice online can be unhelpful. A doctor told TimesLIVE: "This advice on recurrent pneumonia is nonsense because it misses a basic concept of medicine: without information‚ you're just shooting in the dark‚ which the author does by proceeding to give a wild variety of advice."