WebMD controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
Back to profile3 entries
2016
Criticism of weak-evidence health content
Julia Belluz of Vox criticized WebMD for potentially encouraging health anxiety and for presenting or promoting treatments and supplements whose safety or effectiveness she regarded as weakly supported.
2016
Concerns about completeness, neutrality, and accuracy
A survey of doctors and research discussed in reference coverage raised concerns that WebMD and Medscape could provide incomplete or insufficiently deep medical information and might lack neutrality in ways connected to pharmaceutical-industry payments.
2011
Criticism of pharmaceutical sponsorship influence
Writing in The New York Times Magazine, Virginia Heffernan criticized WebMD's advertising and sponsorship relationships, arguing that pharmaceutical support could steer readers toward medicines and contribute to pseudo-medical or misleading impressions.