"When Patients Meet Online, Are There Side Effects?"

The New York Times' Natasha Singer takes a look at health-oriented social networking sites, including CureTogether.com and PatientsLikeMe.com.  


Singer injects some quizzical notes, concerning privacy issues, and also asking to what degree drug companies are fronting some groups, for whatever purpose, but the ultimate logic of a social network for health is as powerful as a social network for anything else.  As PatientsLikeMe puts it: 


“When patients share real-world data, collaboration on a global scale becomes possible.   New treatments become possible.”