Why has it become a guide to buy medicine?, I just want to consult about health issues online. Health | Platform | Questions
Currently, there are a large number of health consultation platforms online, claiming to provide online consultation services. But the reporter found through actual testing that some platforms sell drugs under the guise of health consultation, or impersonate experts to provide fake health consultation, making it very difficult to enjoy real consultation services.
Is the respondent really a doctor when consulting health questions?
On a certain short video platform, the reporter entered "What is the reason for a lot of hair loss", and among the top 10 search results, there were three advertisements: "Director Lian Hair Care Center", "Damai Hair Care", and "Yonghe Hair Health". Click on the homepage of "Director Lian Hair Care Center", and the reporter sent a private message to "Director Lian" to inquire about "hair loss". The other party did not provide an answer, but continuously guided the reporter to their institution for hair follicle testing, and many successful hair transplant cases from the institution came along. Until the consultation was concluded, the reporter did not obtain the desired answer.
![Why has it become a guide to buy medicine?, I just want to consult about health issues online. Health | Platform | Questions](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/8253731a04ed3887da1438efe025f289.jpg)
The reporter consulted with the human customer service on the Ark Swordsman app again, and the system showed that the first respondent was a customer service representative named "Jingjie Worker ID 38558". The reporter requested to consult a professional doctor, and the customer service representative said that they had transferred the doctor to the reporter. The name above the dialog box changed to "Dr. Liu -5526", but the dialog box still displayed "Jingjie Worker ID 38558" as being in service. The reporter asked about his hospital and professional qualifications, and the other party said that he only provides online consultation and does not work in specific hospitals. From beginning to end, the reporter was unable to confirm the professional qualification of "Dr. Liu 5526", nor was it certain whether it was "Dr. Liu 5526" or "Jingjie Worker No. 38558" answering the question.
Some even sell dog meat directly, pretending to be doctors in regular hospitals to provide consultation. Recently, the Beijing Internet Court added a number of online tort liability disputes on health consulting service platforms, which showed that online health consulting platforms used the names and avatars of doctors from several top three hospitals in Beijing to answer patients' questions, and the contents were all health products. The court held that the use of the names of doctors from top tier hospitals by health consultation platforms for commercial operations to obtain traffic value is not a reasonable use of information and infringes on the name and reputation rights of doctors from top tier hospitals. Therefore, they should bear corresponding legal responsibilities.
I didn't answer the question, but I was prescribed medication
![Why has it become a guide to buy medicine?, I just want to consult about health issues online. Health | Platform | Questions](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/339f8011f369f95e72c4532c17f57066.jpg)
The journalist's test also found that many "online consultations" cannot provide targeted answers to questions, but relevant personnel are very active in promoting drugs.
In the "Bright Health App", there are two modes: free consultation and paid consultation. The reporter randomly checked the homepage of several paid consulting doctors and found that users had mixed reviews of the doctors. Two doctor reviews showed that after the user paid, the doctor did not reply. The reporter consulted with customer service on the "Bright Health App", who claimed to be a pharmacist. After describing the recent situation where hair is prone to oil and hair loss is severe, the pharmacist did not provide corresponding advice, but recommended anti fat and hair growth tablets to the reporter.
When searching for "hair loss" on Baidu, multiple ad like links appeared, displaying doctors answering questions from all over the country. The reporter clicks on the "Baidu Health - Free Consultation" link, and a QR code prompts to go to the "Baidu Health" WeChat mini program to inquire. After logging into the mini program, the reporter repeatedly asked questions about free consultations, but the customer service always answered the wrong question, as if it was not a real person but a robot answering.
![Why has it become a guide to buy medicine?, I just want to consult about health issues online. Health | Platform | Questions](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/42210a9d5e990cfd6ce5a9126654ef3c.jpg)
Subsequently, the reporter answered several questions according to the customer service guidelines, and the customer service immediately provided the reporter with consulting services ranging from 1 yuan to 39.9 yuan. So, can paid services be more precise than free services? The reporter paid a consultation fee of 1 yuan, and there was a on duty "doctor" to receive the consultation. The reporter described that there has been an increase in hair loss recently, and the doctor did not provide corresponding health advice. Instead, he immediately recommended oral and topical treatment drugs and issued electronic prescriptions. The reporter clicks on "dispense medication now" below the electronic prescription, and the page immediately jumps to the "Baidu Health Mall" mini program to place an order. The doctor also emphasized that it is recommended to purchase medication on the mini program and not on one's own. If medication is purchased on other platforms, Baidu Health will not provide follow-up services.
As early as September 2018, the National Health Commission held a press conference to clarify that Internet diagnosis and treatment can provide some common and chronic diseases for re diagnosis, but not for initial diagnosis. In the "Baidu Health" WeChat mini program, the system also has a prompt that "if there is no follow-up, only medical consultation services will be provided". However, when the reporter first inquired about "hair loss", why did the "doctor" not answer the question and instead issue an electronic prescription? In addition, there is no electronic signature of doctors in the received electronic prescriptions. However, Article 18 of the Administrative Measures for Internet Diagnosis and Treatment issued in July 2018 stipulates that "prescriptions issued online must have electronic signatures of doctors. After being reviewed by pharmacists, medical institutions and drug distributors can entrust qualified third-party institutions to deliver."
The above shows that it is difficult to obtain answers for online health consultations and it is also easy to be induced to consume. If you have health problems, it is recommended to go to a formal medical institution for consultation.
![Why has it become a guide to buy medicine?, I just want to consult about health issues online. Health | Platform | Questions](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/526acfbd7491e3df0f8a5ec3f6d830b8.jpg)