MINNEAPOLIS, December 29, 2008—A study in the December Annals of Pharmacotherapy has found that patients seeking drug information at Wikipedia are not always reliable.

Wikipedia is an open-source site that serves as an encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute content.

Kevin Clauson, PharmD, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Nova Southeastern University in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., conducted an independent analysis of answers to 80 drug-related questions on Wikipedia and compared the results with what he found on a peer-reviewed site, Medscape Drug Reference.

MDR provided answers to 82.5 percent of the questions, while Wikipedia's provided 40 percent. Four of MDR answers were found to be incorrect. None of the Wikipedia answers were incorrect.

On the other hand, the study found 48 errors of omission in the Wikipedia search and only 14 at MDR.

The danger is that missing information can be as dangerous as incorrect information, the researchers said.

Clauson said that pain medication errors were the worst. One example was the entry on Arthrotec; the Wikipedia entry omitted a warning that the drug could cause miscarriages.

American Medical News story