Posted by Gary Schwitzer in Cancer, Evidence-based medicine, Health care costs, Health care journalism, Medical devices
We salute the Philadelphia Inquirer and reporter Stacey Burling for a terrific piece, “Debate surrounds new prostate cancer treatment.”
It got a rare five-star (top score) rating on HealthNewsReview.org. Excerpts of the review:
This was an excellent, provocative exploration of some of the critical issues involving the tension between treatment options, payment responsibility, patient choice, and evidence on risks and benefits. There are a great number of uncertainties about prostate cancer itself, whether active treatment is called for and if so, which is the most appropriate choice for individual patients. Combining this with financial interests of those providing treatment adds another layer of difficulty in making good individual choices.High marks for a terrific enterprise piece that helps readers understand an important health policy and health care reform topic.
One standout quote from a physician in the story:
“There’s a lot of politics involved in this. There’s a lot of self-interest. There’s a lot of greed.”
Treatment for advanced ovarian tumors may lengthen survival, but questions still remain, despite the story’s emphasis on “promising” and “new hope.”
As with the HealthDay story on this research that we reviewed, readers of this story get a good dose of caveats and cautions along with the suggestions that electrical brain stimulation might someday “have implications” for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
The readers of this story and the other one we reviewed by Reuters are likely to understand that electrical brain stimulation could have some memory effects, but it’s a long way from becoming a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
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