My first Question Rejected

DylanJB

Hi, everybody.
I'm new here, just joined yesterday,
I've been on boards many times, just never as a poster.

So anyway, yesterday I woke up with the worst toothache ever and it was clear that my gum was badly infected, I got up and found a bottle of clavamel forte (an antibiotic) in my brothers cupboard, the thing is that the bottle said there were supposed to be 14 tabs when it actually had 18 in it, naturally enough this made me suspect that whats in the bottle may not be whats on the bottle.
So then I took my search to the internet, I looked at every drug identification resource I could find, Britain, the US, Australia, but it seems that this is an Irish only medication so could find nothing.
So after about about an hour searching the nets, I had a great idea, why don't I go on Ireland's largest forum site, so I come, join and post my Question?

DylanJB 08-07-2010 17:12
Clavamel Forte Identification

Hi all, could anyone here please tell what a Clavamel Forte tablet looks like?

I keep it brief, because I read the forum rules and asking for medical advice is a no no.
Then fourteen minutes later I get this reply from the moderator locum-motion:

locum-motion 08-07-2010 17:26

Quote:
Originally Posted by DylanJB (Post 66818521)
Hi all, could anyone here please tell what a Clavamel Forte tablet looks like?

It comes in a box, bottle or package with a pharmacy's label on it which says "Clavamel Forte". I'm not trying to be a smartar5e, but that's the only reliable way to identify a pharmaceutical product.

If you've got loose or unlabelled tablets, I'm certainly not going to try to identify them (or assist anyone else in identifying them) without seeing them personally. Nor should anyone else. Even though the likelihood is low, the potential for harm should a mistake be made is too great to risk it.
One of the first things I was taught the first time I walked into a science lab (in 1st yr, secondary school) is that nothing should ever be left unlabelled. This was reinforced again in Uni.

If you have a container of tablets labelled as 'Clavamel Forte' but have some reason to believe that it's not 'Clavamel Forte' inside it, then you should bring it back to the pharmacy you got it from - or to another pharmacy if you don't want to do that - and ask the pharmacist to have a look.

Good luck,
L-M, MPSI.

ps. I'm speaking here both as a pharmacist and as a Mod on this forum. I wouldn't like to see other posters disregard my recommendation above. Please don't attempt to i.d. the O.P.'s tablets.

Okay now with this answer not only has not answered my query, but has actually threatened anyone else from answering me.

I then replied with a rather angry post which may have been a bit strong:

DylanJB 08-07-2010 17:32
Thanks but you are being a smartarse, I don't want anyone making presumptions or moralising to me, i'm not trying to identify loose tablets, you clearly know nothing about this and posted a really verbose post to make yourself look smart when you're really just being a muppet.
Thanks for nothing.

And quickly got a ban:

locum-motion 08-07-2010 18:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by DylanJB (Post 66818883)
Thanks but you are being a smartarse, I don't want anyone making presumptions or moralising to me, i'm not trying to identify loose tablets, you clearly know nothing about this and posted a really verbose post to make yourself look smart when you're really just being a muppet.
Thanks for nothing.

If you had provided more information in your original post, I may have been able to give you a more concise and/or more helpful answer.

The only presumption I made was that you had some tablets you wanted to identify, and that it was either a case of 1. unlabelled tablets or 2. mislabelled tablets. Either way, nobody can or should give you an answer without seeing the tablets. That is my professional advice, as a pharmacist.

You're new around here, so maybe you're unaware of what a Mod is. Essentially, I'm one of the referees in Health Sciences. My job is to apply the rules, one of which is that we can't give advice about anyone's specific health problem, we have to direct you to seek the appropriate qualified opinion. Since your question related to a pharmaceutical product, the appropriate professional is a pharmacist. By all means, appeal to the other moderators or the Category moderators if you wish, but given that none of them are pharmacists, they're unlikely to overrule me on this, just as I wouldn't overrule any of them on their own area of professional expertise.

In the meantime, calling the Mod a muppet has earned you a week's ban from this forum and a closed thread.

Now I get that they're are rules on here, but besides calling him or her a muppet I don't believe I broke them with the first question, this mod only made boards less useful and made him or herself feel more important.

By the way I never found out after, but took them anyway, my gum seems to be much better.

Do you think It's more likely to make my decision safer with more information or less information?

And just to preempt all you "responsible people" yes I know doctors and dentists don't want people to self diagnose and you're going to say i'm reckless or whatever and i should go dentist etc.. but i'm really just not going to take any heed, so save it.

All I wanted to know is what a particular antibiotic looks like!

Ponster

Thanks but you are being a smartarse, I don't want anyone making presumptions or moralising to me, i'm not trying to identify loose tablets, you clearly know nothing about this and posted a really verbose post to make yourself look smart when you're really just being a muppet.
Thanks for nothing.

Moved to Helpdesk as it seems to be a complaint against a mod.


DylanJB, Welcome to Boards.ie !

Sorry things seems to have gotten off to a bad start but while I was expecting to see the usual heavy-handed modding we sometimes see with new members I was pretty impressed with locum-motion. I would have just posted the usual "No medical advice post" and locked the thread. Instead the mod correctly told others not to reply with their answers to your question which would only have forced him to lock the thread.

You seem to be someone who has some cop on (knowing about the medical help rule) and has maybe lurked around here without opening an account before. You also knew that your second post was going to have some sort of reaction but I think you've backed a loser with this one.

tbh

Hi Dylan,

I'm one of the cmods of the science forums.

Here's the thing.

You were asking to know what a particular tablet looked like. L-m told you that they come in a bottle with the name on the label.

I can't see any problem with the answer he gave you - he was being responsible to both boards.ie and the users of the forum. He told you to take it to a pharmacy, he explained why he couldn't give you any further help, and he asked others not to give you what could potentially be dangerous advice.

10/10 for L-M from me, I have to say.

I'm sorry you didn't get the help you were looking for, but we're not in a position to give that help, now or ever. It's just not what boards was designed for.