Problems concerning the Quality of the Health Information on the Internet

Internet-based medical information provides knowledge concerning illnesses and medications, and is useful for improving the quality of the lives of patients and families. However, depending on the content of the provided information and the way that it is used, there can be a negative side as well. On principle, users are responsible for the way that information is used, but there is a need for providers of information to consider the safety of users and make the information use-effective. Since there is no absolute standard for evaluating the value of medical information, rather than relying on an established authority, a societal system for naturally accumulating high quality information by receiving various evaluations will be needed. On the other hand there is a need for objective evaluation of information, so that users have the power to make selections.