We received some interesting feedback in response to our last Publisher’s Note, “Too Brief To Matter – Part Two: The benefits/harms of briefs & digests,” and wanted to share some of it with you. We are planning a revision to our site that would provide a better place to host such discussions online in the [...]
Australian journalism Melissa Sweet, in a piece entitled, “The ties that bind: how big pharma buys a good press,” in the Australian online magazine Crikey (subscription required but free trial available), writes: “The media is often quick to get on its high horse about the pharmaceutical industry’s wining and dining of doctors, but is much [...]
On our HealthNewsReview.org website, we’ve posted a new Publisher’s Note to foster discussion about what’s missing in so many of those “health news briefs” or “health watch” digests or “medical minutes.” In the 17 months that we’ve been reviewing stories from about 60 major U.S. news organizations, we have given our top five-star score to [...]
Yesterday we profiled a Wall Street Journal column about the statistical flaws in some studies. Today we point out a Los Angeles Times column that gives readers a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of epidemiologic studies. Excerpts: “(Critics say that) far too many of these epidemiological studies — in which the habits and [...]
Just watched John Stossel’s special, “Whose Body Is It Anyway? Sick in America,” on the ABC News 20/20 program. Wow. Simplistic. Superficial. Shallow. Superfluous. Just one example: he used laser eye surgery and cosmetic surgery as two examples of how the competitive marketplace can bring health care costs under control. No discussion of quality. No [...]
We want to re-open a discussion we first started earlier this year in a note called “Too Brief To Matter” about the value of health news briefs, digests, “health headline” sections and the like. In the 17 months that we’ve been reviewing stories from about 60 major U.S. news organizations, we have given our top [...]
Johns Hopkins University president William Brody, in a speech at the National Press Club on Friday, said journalists are not asking presidential candidates the right questions about health care reform. “If you’re only reporting cost and coverage issues, you‘re missing a big part of the story,â€? Brody said. Brody said that almost no one — [...]
Ben Goldacre, in this week’s BMJ writes: I was surprised last week by an email circular I received from a science writers’ mailing list. It was from the Aspirin Foundation, a group funded by the drug industry, and it was offering—on behalf of Bayer Healthcare—to pay expenses for journalists to attend the European Society of [...]
We look for more critical analysis of FDA expedited approval of a new drug like this.
Five-star story on small study that tries to counter large body of evidence on soy supplements for hot flashes.
Our reviewers, including a leading women’s health clinician-researcher, felt this piece would have been benefited from more data and context.
We will not display your name or e-mail address on the site, nor will we share youre-mail address with any third parties.
For site updates and news from Gary, find us on Twitter:
HealthNewsReview: @HealthNewsRevu
Gary Schwitzer: @garyschwitzer
Copyright © 2012 Health News Review
