8
votes
Accepted
Is this site suitable for laypeople asking questions and expecting non-technical answers?
The tour for Medical Sciences states:
Medical Sciences Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professionals in medical and allied health fields, students of those professions, related ...
Ian CampbellMod
- 3,256
8
votes
Accepted
Mismatch between on-topic and off-topic with Seasoned Advice
Although I'm aware of the limitation on nutrition questions on Seasoned Advice and I bet @michaelpri is too, I agree the language needs to be cleaned up for users and future mods.
Frankly, the ...
- 9,862
7
votes
Should the personal medical advice rule be changed?
By contrast, if Answers for these questions are given here, then we
can be sure that they are high quality answers given by medical
professionals
Oh? How would we be sure? There are several high-...
- 9,862
7
votes
Site name/scope: what to do with old questions and answers
I'm not a regular of this site, this answer will be --at best-- a general advice, further ideas should be discussed by the site's regulars.
Stack Exchange has a special lock, "historical lock" for ...
- 139
5
votes
Accepted
Is this question a good fit for this site?
No, it's not a good fit at all. In fact, it would be off topic because you're asking for a diagnosis and treatment for your friend. The site does not offer personal medical advice so if you ask, your ...
- 9,862
5
votes
Disguised questions and measuring intents
The ban against medical advice is meant to promote safety and medical ethics as best we can; to reduce the risk that someone misuses content here to their own detriment, or chooses not to seek the ...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 14.1k
5
votes
How do we deal with major ethical issues within questions?
I'm not sure where to draw the line as a site policy, but I am pretty sure that we should never help anyone engage in non-consensual activities. So I'm closing the question but I think this discussion ...
- 9,862
4
votes
How do we deal with major ethical issues within questions?
I think we should close questions like this when they have no medical or research purpose, and especially when the information could be harmful.
An example of similar past questions (I forget now if ...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 14.1k
4
votes
Would asking if a specific type of device exists be on-topic here?
I think it's a shopping request. Any answer given today is likely to be invalidated by next year, or next month. And of course it will lead to reviews of which device is better, and that's all just ...
- 9,862
3
votes
Accepted
What to do about all the wannabe-epidemiologist questions that propose to redefine CFR?
These should simply be closed as a duplicate of: Does COVID-19 have a mortality rate of 41%?
If that question does not seem sufficiently catch-all, we could edit it to be more general and cover the ...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 14.1k
3
votes
Discussion: What is needed for this site to work?
One idea I just thought of is that when a PMA question is closed, its title should be changed to have [Closed as Personal Medical Advice] at the beginning so it is plain to see for others that PMA ...
- 6,185
3
votes
Is a question about TENS units on-topic?
Go ahead and ask what studies exist to support TENS, what the outcome is etc. I think those are perfectly reasonable questions and on-topic.
- 6,891
3
votes
Why is asking question "time gap between a meal and sleep" -- considered off topic?
It was closed because it asks for personal medical advice. The question is inherently personal and the answer will be different for everyone, so it's just not a good fit for this site. I don't see ...
- 9,862
3
votes
Let's open a discussion on building in quality control measures that encourage higher quality posts/answers
These are my suggestions and pros/cons of proposed methods.
A mandatory tutorial before being able to post any q or a. It could require more than just clicking "I understand" by forcing them to ...
- 5,814
2
votes
What is our stance on questions about assistive technology recommendations?
I don't think asking for recommendations is acceptable since recommendations are inherently opinion polls, and they're very ephemeral. A good recommendation today might be a terrible recommendation ...
- 9,862
2
votes
What is our stance on questions asking for health data sets off-topic?
Personally I think these questions should be closed as off-topic or migrated to OpenData.SE
The reason for this is that data sets can be used in many different ways and it is all about how they are ...
- 6,185
2
votes
Yet again, we have personal advice questions answered
Be Careful
I've talked about this before: We need to be nicer. And it is important to understand that a question is not off-topic until it has been closed as off-topic. Questions for personal advice ...
- 6,891
2
votes
Mismatch between on-topic and off-topic with Seasoned Advice
In lieu of perfect language, maybe something like:
questions about cooking, nutrition and diets that are not directly connected to medical treatments (rarely such questions may fit Cooking.SE (...
Bryan KrauseMod
- 14.1k
2
votes
Accepted
Medical history and investigation for asking questions?
No, questions requesting medical advice for specific cases are strictly off topic here. If there appears to be a real person involved and the question asks for advice, the question will be closed (the ...
- 9,862
1
vote
Should questions that are off topic due to lack of question author research have a historical lock applied?
In answer to your question on whether all questions with lack of research should have historical lock applied, I would say definitely no.
All questions would need to be assessed for lock on a question ...
- 6,185
1
vote
Should questions that are off topic due to lack of question author research have a historical lock applied?
There seems to be no interest in this question in the community, so I guess it's up to me.
I agree with you that the historical lock is too blunt an instrument in cases like this. I've unlocked the ...
- 9,862
1
vote
Is it on-topic to ask about differential diagnostics for sciatica, and if so how?
I also think it would be fine, again depending on the wording. You would need to present enough details to be able to eliminate causes/narrow the focus, without giving personal details.
Something ...
- 6,657
1
vote
Is it on-topic to ask about differential diagnostics for sciatica, and if so how?
I think you should follow the advice Susan gives in her answer, in particular her third point labeled "Probably OK."
One of the criteria I use for judging whether borderline questions cross the line ...
- 9,862
1
vote
Let's open a discussion on building in quality control measures that encourage higher quality posts/answers
A pop-up that happens AFTER writing the question but BEFORE submission is complete. It reminds of the most important rules and links to more info.
AGREEMENT
Absolutely a good idea. Pop-Ups can be ...
- 6,891
1
vote
Accepted
Personal Diagnosis and Health.SE
From the help centre:
If your question is requesting personal medical advice, it is off-topic and instead should be directed to your personal physician.
So yes, if the answer to the question is "...
- 2,833
1
vote
Accepted
Would a question about the purpose/motive of OT be on-topic here?
I think this could be on-topic — not a question about motives (as in the title), but rather one about data. I would suggest phrasing it in a way that is reasonably specific as to the ...
- 4,416
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible