Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Celebrity diseases

This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record.
The result of the debate was delete. Joyous 22:14, Jan 23, 2005 (UTC)

Celebrity diseases

Is this really something that belongs in an encyclopedia? It seems very open-ended, especially since there is no definition of a notable disease. Could I add "Scott Burley - common cold"? -- Scott e^iπ 08:42, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)

Delete, not encyclopedic. And get some chicken soup, Scott (unless you're a veg). Rhobite 08:43, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)
Delete. We have List of cancer patients and other such lists. This is a duplicate of several other articles. Rick K 08:47, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)
Keep, but expand mercilessly (and link to sub-lists if necessary). Celebrities, when they get ill, have a profound impact on society and the popular perception of the disease in question. Lance Armstrong has created a generally positive image of testicular cancer. Various great politicians suffered diseases that may have influenced their political decisions etc. etc. Can you imagine the impact when Britney Spears develops chlamydia? JFW | T@lk 09:18, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Comment: I don't think people will be any more eager to get it, if that's what you mean. Lacrimosus 10:18, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete, duplicates content, and of dubious encyclopedic value. Khanartist 09:07, 2005 Jan 17 (UTC)
Delete, this stuff belongs in the appropriate biography, if relevant. --fvw * 09:41, 2005 Jan 17 (UTC)
I agree with Jfdwolff that information on this subject should be kept, and not just in individual entries. But it should probably be agglomerated by disease in List of... (and, where appropriate, category) form. Certainly this title sucks, and anything with celebrity would be tricky. (Is Mark Vonnegut, listed, a "celebrity"?) For these specific reasons, I'd have to say delete this specific article. Samaritan 09:48, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete: I would, however, be happy to see lists along the lines of "list of famous people who are believed to have suffered [disease X]. Lacrimosus 10:18, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete: If someone has done something special for a disease or its profile, then list that at their page and the disease's page. I wouldn't object to Lacrimosus' idea, but I can't say I'd be clamouring to read them. Thryduulf 11:05, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
I agree with Jfdwolff that a page like this should be kept if rewritten in the context of a celebrity disease's effect on public perception. But the topic name does not sit right for me: I can't imagine it would be searched for. Delete in its current form, but I might accept a 'Celebrities and diseases'. Stombs 11:11, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)
Delete - If a famous person has a certain disease, that should be mentioned in the article about that disease, not in a generic list. Besides, all the dead famous people (who have not committed suicide or been killed) have died of one medical condition or another, so the list would be rather longish to say the least - Skysmith 12:05, 17 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete too much possibility for libelous and unverifiable information. I could see how some of this might be useful, but it should remain in the articles for the celebrity and/or the disease, so as not to become a "Who's got AIDS?" gossip list. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 12:22, Jan 17, 2005 (UTC)
- Very good point - Skysmith 09:09, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
  - Thank you. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 11:22, Jan 18, 2005 (UTC)
Weak keep. Much of this information would better be kept on pages such as List of tuberculosis victims, but there is room for a catch-all. Will ultimately need some sort of sorting criteria; by disease? name? reason for celebrity? -- Smerdis of Tlön 20:38, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Transwiki to NationalEnquirerWiki, or better yet Delete. What's next? How about celebrity toupees? Or Illegitimate children of celebrities? Celebrity divorces? Celebrities abducted by aliens? --BM 21:53, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Weak Keep, borderline. Article would need major reformatting if kept. Megan1967 01:22, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete. In my opinion, articles such as this which are pointless yet accurate pose a greater threat to wikipedia being taken seriously as a viable research tool than any amount of vanity and vandalism. Indrian 20:22, Jan 21, 2005 (UTC)
Delete. As others have said, this content belongs on other pages. No one's doubting that celebrity diseases are notable, but this way of dealing with the subject is uninformative and useless. There's no reason to lump various disconnected "celebrity diseases" together. Szyslak 03:57, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Delete this list of trivia. Martg76 05:29, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.