Reddit user u/squishy0930 asked doctors, "What was the dumbest 'I read on the internet' moment you had with a patient?" and I'm truly wondering how these people have survived for so long.
Here's what they shared:
1. "When I was a medical student, I met a woman who was heavily interested in homeopathy and natural healing, so she started drinking her own urine..."
2. "My father saw a patient who was convinced that hospitals were a sham. She had cancer. She winds up on chemo for a bit, but very quickly tells my father she isn't going to be taking her medication anymore because 'she knows when she's being scammed' and the side effects of her medication were 'proof'..."
"...She takes this as further proof that hospitals are a sham and starts blogging about it. She was then sent back to my father, via ambulance, sometime later. The test results were back and she had stage four cancer. She died in the hospital later that week."
3. "[I'm a nurse but] my doctor friend who works in the ER had a patient with a few garlic cloves stuck deep in her vagina because she had read on the internet it helps with certain infections and yeast."
4. "One of my colleagues prescribed a cream for a middle-aged woman and she later called back and asked if the cream would still work while she was on vacation in Hawaii. [We said] 'Yes it will, why?' She replied, 'Because I was told to apply it locally.'"
5. "My grandpa, before the internet, heard through the grapevine that putting warm oil plus garlic in the ear can make your ears squeaky clean..."
6. "A couple of years ago, I was dealing with some mild back pain. I texted a friend about it, and after 30 seconds, she replies telling me that I have spine cancer..."
"...After telling her that there was no way that I had 'spine cancer,' she continued to insist that she was correct and that her mom was a doctor so she knew these things."
7. "That people within the negative blood group are born genetically stronger and more immune to diseases."
9. "[There] was a woman who came with a baby suffering from a weird skin condition on his buttocks. After leaving no stone unturned, the intern asks her to show how she takes care of the baby..."
10. "Patient with diabetic foot ulcers read on the internet that salt would dry them up. He put his foot in two plastic shopping bags with rock salt and turned his foot into prosciutto basically..."
"...Had to 'carve/amputate' most of his foot. He has forever been nicknamed 'hammy' by me."
11. "[One of my patients] said she read on the internet that one dark beer a day before going to bed helps the baby stay healthy while breastfeeding."
12. "I was on night watch at the ER and a patient had cut his finger with a knife while cooking. There was a weird powder on the wound mixed with blood, so I asked what it was and he told me he put paprika on it to 'stop the bleeding.'"
13. "Literally in the elevator the other day, I had a woman look straight at my badge and then tell me 'you know these blue hospital masks are only good for 30 seconds, right? After that, might as well not be wearing one.'"
14. "Was recommending the COVID vaccine to a patient at a routine office visit. He said he read on the internet that they 'put a microchip' in the vaccine and that it was 'made by the Illuminati...'"
"I pointed at his cellphone and told him 'you’re already being tracked buddy, not sure about that Illuminati 5G family plan though.'"
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.