Thursday, May 23, 2013
In Routine Check-Up, CEO of WebMD Diagnoses Self With Cancer
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PrintWhile performing his annual self check-up early this morning, WebMD CEO Anthony Vuolo diagnosed himself with cancer. The previous evening, Mr. Vuolo consumed four Irish coffees. When he couldn't sleep at 3 AM this morning, he took advantage of the unscheduled time to conduct his routine annual check-up.
Said Mr. Vuolo, "WebMD is serious about health… Our visitors and our own. That's why senior management is required to do a yearly self-check-up. WebMD's technology made it possible for me to so it on my schedule, when I wanted it, when I was feeling bad. What regular doctor would have been willing to diagnose cancer at 3:00 AM without running any tests? That's what makes WebMD such a great business."
Taking advantage of WebMD's user-friendly interface, Mr. Vuolo assessed his physical condition, then entered everything he found to be unusual. It took less than a second for the highly sophisticated software to inform him that he had a potentially untreatable brain tumor.
"I was mostly fine, but I had a headache, my vision was a little blurry, and there was a clicking noise in my jaw. Without our company's cutting-edge software, I would written that off as just a minor hangover. Thankfully, WebMD let me know otherwise."
He continued, "Being informed by a computer program that you have cancer is difficult. I should know. This is my seventh WebMD annual self check-up, and it's the seventh time I've been diagnosed with cancer. It never gets any easier to hear."
After another drink, Mr. Vuolo planned his treatment using WebMD's new partnership with WebChemo.com. WebChemo gives registered cancer patients a strict program of holding their computer to the part of their body that has cancer. "In my case, that's the left temple, so I'll do that eight hours a day for the next six weeks, and then I'll diagnose myself again and we'll see what to do from there. It won't be easy, so thank goodness WebChemo is compatible with MacBook Air."
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