GEMS’s online advice column called potentially illegal and as medically sound as Dr Google
The Government Employee Medical Scheme (GEMS) and a private public relations (PR) firm have been accused of using lay people to give incorrect medical advice to patients who think it is a doctor offering free online help. Members of GEMS‚ the second-largest medical aid in the country‚ are led to believe a medical doctor is answering their health-related questions posed online. In what experts describe as unethical and potentially illegal‚ the advice column "House Call with Dr Joe" was launched on www.gems.gov.za in April 2014 "after receiving a number of requests from GEMS members for a scheme-specific personalised healthcare advice column". The advice column is being managed by Martina Nicholson Associates (MNA)‚ who handles public relations for GEMS‚ Netcare and Universal Healthcare. Martina Nicholson‚ the owner of the firm‚ has denied any wrongdoing and insists all questions are answered by a medical doctor. She declined to send The Times proof of this‚ citing doctor-patient conf...
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