Either incredibly poor judgment or unfortunate inadvertent juxtaposition on LA Times health blog

Under the headline, “Big science zooms in on a new cure for baldness” – which was about male-pattern baldness, the Los Angeles Times Health blog published a local TV station’s video segment about a “Go Bald shave-a-thon” fundraiser with a little boy who had neuroblastoma.

Did someone actually think the two totally unrelated types of baldness were related? Male-pattern baldness in adult males versus kids with cancer who “go bald” as a result of treatment?

Or was this an auto-generated layout – with the website grabbing anything that had baldness as a key word and posting the stories on the same page?

In either case, a fix is in order.

If it’s the former reason, someone needs some education.

If it’s the latter reason, if this is the way your website is populated, you have a problem that needs correction.

Here’s a screenshot of the webpage.

ADDENDUM on 3/23:  The video has now been removed from the LA Times Health blog story and replaced with a photo of Jason Alexander, actor, who, the caption says, “like many men, has a bald pate.”

ADDENDUM later in day on 3/22:

Back on the male-pattern baldness story – breathless headlines abound.

TIME gushes: “Study Finds Patter in Male Baldness:  Could There Be a Cure?”

But here’s what the story reported: “researchers have identified a protein that appears to play a role in male pattern baldness.”

Proteins that appear to play a role CURE.    Others need to get the message:

Is curing male-pattern baldness important to you? – CBC.ca

New Cause For Male Pattern Baldness Discovered: Is Cure Next? (CBS News)

Cure for baldness in ‘could be on sale within five years’ – Daily Mail

Baldness Cure May Be on Horizon – MedPage Today

Possible baldness cure on horizon – Fox TV

 Researchers closer to finding baldness cure – ABC7Chicago.com

An Effective Cure for Baldness May Soon Be On the Market – Medical Daily

Breakthrough Male Baldness Cure Could Be On Sale Within Five Years – Huffington Post

And NBC News put Cure in its onscreen graphic, referred to a “baldness cure” with the tired old “Holy Grail of medicine” line, and said a cream or medicine could be available “as soon as 5 years.”  The height (or depth) of hyperbole.

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