Introduction

Since the creation of the World Wide Web in 1989, the online “door” has been opened to vast amounts of information, new and improved technologies, and enhanced international communications. Today, approximately 104 million American adults have access to the Internet, (Eastin, Matthew S.) which has now become a source from which almost an infinite amount of knowledge can be gained. Along with these advances, however, have come consequences. For example, the availability of various forms of media (sound bites, videos, visuals, etc.) has paved the way for an unprecedented exchange of pornographic materials, and the expansion of communications has opened new avenues for underground criminal activities. Similarly, the accessibility of low or no cost online health care information has had its benefits, but has also proven to account for many overlooked consequences. One of the factors that make these effects so drastic is its unusually high frequency of usage. In fact, a 2006 survey found that around seven percent of Internet users would employ a health-related search on any given day, ranking the search for and access of online medical information equally with online bill-payment, blog-reading, and the acquisition of phone numbers or addresses (Fox, Susannah). This drastically extensive use of internet-based medical information and services has attributed to a rise in the misinformation of consumers, altered the patient-physician relationship, and negatively impacted clinical business due to its ease of accessibility and common lack of credibility.