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How to ask about something you suspect is a bad idea

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Solved by t.duarte in post #6

Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead. Happy to be the one who is wrong here if it settles the question.

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s.vanheckeTL23 Aug 2025#1

The question in the title: How to ask about something you suspect is a bad idea I will give what I have already checked below so nobody repeats it.

Question in the title. Context below, and I have tried to include the things people here always have to ask for.

What I have already read: the relevant maintained document, the two topics it links to, and the tag page. What I could not find is the specific case I am in, which may simply mean it is uncommon.

I am happy to be told this is answered elsewhere if someone can point at where.

21 likes 12mo

r.zielinskiTL212 Aug 2025#2

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Reporting the observation and leaving the explanation open deliberately.

3 likes 12mo

r.aldana_pharmdTL4Pharmacist18 Aug 2025 · edited#3

Same experience here, different supplier, so it is at least not unique to one of them.

0 likes 11mo

e.vargaTL223 Aug 2025#4

r.aldana_pharmd, post #3: Same experience here, different supplier, so it is at least not unique to one of them. Go to post

Adding the measurement that post #2 says would settle it.

Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead.

32 likes in reply to #3 11mo

e.ferreiraTL3Regular29 Aug 2025#5

e.varga, post #4: Adding the measurement that post #2 says would settle it. Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead. Go to post

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Adding the caveat now so it does not have to be extracted later.

7 likes in reply to #4 11mo

t.duarteTL2 Solution2 Sep 2025#6

Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead.

Happy to be the one who is wrong here if it settles the question.

8 likes 11mo

dr_bhattacharyaTL3Physician7 Sep 2025#7

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

That is where I would start, not where I would stop.

0 likes 11mo

d.vukovicTL212 Sep 2025#8

Picking up post #7: that is the part I would want checked first.

Lab result questions: state the result, the reference interval, and what else is on the same panel. A single flag on a single draw is usually uninformative without context.

24 likes 10mo

d.tammTL216 Sep 2025#9

Post #7 and I disagree about the size of the effect, not about the direction.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

23 likes 10mo

a.zamoraTL220 Sep 2025 · edited#10

s.vanhecke, post #1: The question in the title: How to ask about something you suspect is a bad idea I will give what I have already checked below so nobody repeats it. Question in the title. Context below, and I have tried to include the things people here always have to ask for. What I have already read: the relevant maintained document, the two topics it… Go to post

Taking post #7 at face value and following it one step further.

Disagreeing with an answer you got: cite what you disagree with, say what contradicts it, and ask which one holds. Do not open with "I think you are wrong". Lead with the evidence.

That matches what I was told, which is not the same as knowing it.

10 likes in reply to #1 10mo

v.sjobergTL224 Sep 2025#11

dr_bhattacharya, post #7: A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either. That is where I would start, not where I would stop. Go to post

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

That has been true for the cases I have seen and I have not seen many.

1 like in reply to #7 10mo

t.vasquezTL4 Moderator28 Sep 2025#12

a.zamora, post #10: Taking post #7 at face value and following it one step further. Disagreeing with an answer you got: cite what you disagree with, say what contradicts it, and ask which one holds. Do not open with "I think you are wrong". Lead with the evidence. That matches what I was told, which is not the same as knowing it. Go to post

Staff post. Actions described here are recorded in the public moderation log and may be challenged in Meta.

Staff note on titles, since it comes up. We retitle topics fairly often, always leaving the original in the first post and always logging it. It is not a criticism of the wording — it is that a title is how somebody finds this in eighteen months.

5 likes in reply to #10 10mo

s.dziedzicTL22 Oct 2025#13

The arithmetic in post #12 is right; the assumption feeding it is the part to check.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

15 likes 10mo

so.cardosoTL26 Oct 2025#14

Answering the question post #10 raises rather than the one it answers.

Disagreeing with an answer you got: cite what you disagree with, say what contradicts it, and ask which one holds. Do not open with "I think you are wrong". Lead with the evidence.

I looked this up rather than remembered it, which is the right order.

30 likes 10mo

n.petrovTL210 Oct 2025#15

Disagreement-style questions: "I read this and it contradicts what I heard here, which is right?" is answerable. "Is this a bad idea?" without giving the context is not.

0 likes 10mo

b.nilsenTL214 Oct 2025#16

n.petrov, post #15: Disagreement-style questions: "I read this and it contradicts what I heard here, which is right?" is answerable. "Is this a bad idea?" without giving the context is not. Go to post

Where I part company with post #14, and it is a narrow parting.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

3 likes in reply to #15 9mo

v.krastevTL218 Oct 2025#17

Adding the measurement that post #16 says would settle it.

Units. Everything needs units. This is why we ask every single time. I have seen the same arithmetic done three different ways depending on whether the person was thinking mg/mL or mg/dose or something else entirely. Stating the units makes that impossible.

That holds under the stated conditions and I have stated them.

10 likes 9mo

m.achebeTL221 Oct 2025 · edited#18

This settles it for me, at least until somebody posts a reason it should not.

22 likes 9mo

PSkarbekTL3Regular25 Oct 2025 · edited#19

This follows post #16 rather than contradicting it.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Worth one more sentence than it usually gets.

0 likes 9mo

a.silvaTL229 Oct 2025#20

r.zielinski, post #2: A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either. Reporting the observation and leaving the explanation open deliberately. Go to post

Arithmetic questions: write out the steps. "I have a 10 mg vial, I added 2 mL, I want a 0.25 mg dose, and I get this number for the syringe mark" is answerable. "How many units" is not.

The interesting part of this is the exception, and I do not understand the exception.

1 like in reply to #2 9mo

o.abrahamsenTL3Regular1 Nov 2025#21

That matches what I have seen, for whatever a single anecdote is worth.

28 likes 9mo

m.nwosuTL25 Nov 2025#22

Confirming post #19 from a second method, which matters more than confirming it from a second person.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

The general answer and the answer for your case may diverge here.

13 likes 9mo

e.kjeldsenTL2Member8 Nov 2025#23

Disagreement-style questions: "I read this and it contradicts what I heard here, which is right?" is answerable. "Is this a bad idea?" without giving the context is not.

2 likes in reply to #7 9mo

p.lindqvistTL211 Nov 2025#24

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

0 likes in reply to #2 8mo

c.inglethorpeTL3Regular15 Nov 2025#25

Coming back to post #23, because the follow-up matters more than the original answer.

It is fine to say you cannot explain why you are asking. Nobody will press, and the technical part of the question can usually be answered without the context.

Old habit: I write down the expected answer before I calculate it.

0 likes 8mo

h.bhattacharyaTL218 Nov 2025#26

Post #23 is right about the mechanism and I think understates the practical bit.

I have said this before in a thread nobody could find, so it is worth repeating.

19 likes 8mo

CSagredoTL3Regular22 Nov 2025#27

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

Adding this to the thread rather than to the wiki, because I am not confident enough for the wiki.

5 likes 8mo

h.ramosTL225 Nov 2025#28

e.ferreira, post #5: A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either. Adding the caveat now so it does not have to be extracted later. Go to post

Say what you want out of the answer. "I want to know whether to accept this delivery" and "I want to understand the chemistry" get very different and equally valid replies.

I would put this at better than even and not much better.

0 likes in reply to #5 8mo

a.kwiatkowskiTL2Member28 Nov 2025#29

I read post #27 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.

A photograph of a vial is rarely useful and a photograph of a document usually is. Redact the identifiers before you post either.

0 likes 8mo

k.ogunleyeTL21 Dec 2025 · edited#30

This is the sort of exchange that makes the archive worth searching.

26 likes 8mo

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