Top Ten Reasons So Many Medical Web Sites Are Ailing
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This week, healthshop.com fired most of its 70 employees and
shut down customer service and email, while other online
health information dispensaries, such as drkoop.com and
MotherNature.com, are also reportedly under the weather. Why
are so many medical sites struggling? Our diagnosis:
1. Four doctors, no waiting: "Big name" staff included
Doctors Zhivago, Dolittle, Demento, and "Doc" Marten.
2. Dubious business plans: They were accepting too many stock
options in lieu of payment.
3. Even a virtual waiting room's a killer: People were dying
before their 28.8k modems could load the extravagant graphics.
4. Unpopular remedies: Who really wants high colonics?
5. Prozac nation: So many Web surfers are already on
prescription antidepressants that they don't even notice when
they're ill.
6. Denial-of-service assaults: Massive traffic from
hypochondriacs repeatedly shut down servers.
7. Heal thyself: Too many 22-year-old employees were
reluctant to face their own mortality by answering questions
about prostate exams and skin cancer.
8. Dubious accreditation: Doctors whose degrees come from
"somewhere with a great beach" don't inspire confidence.
9. Unwilling to embrace new technologies: Began each
treatment with the proviso, "If leeching failed..."
10. Why bother? You still can't get an online prescription
for top-notch painkillers.