New name for the old “Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview blog”
This is the publisher‘s blog (perspective, opinion) – different than the systematic story reviews, in which multiple reviewers use standardized criteria to critique stories.
On the PLoS Blog, “The Panic Network,” Seth Mnookin writes: “More media stupidity: Chicago Sun-Times runs propaganda piece for Jenny McCarthy’s anti-vaccine conference.” He begins: On Sunday, in honor of Mother’s Day, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a puff piece on native daughter Jenny McCarthy. This is closer to a press release than it is to [...]
In an opinion piece on TheScientist.com, Daniel W. Coyne writes, “Amgen’s incomplete report on an early major trial of epoetin misled the medical community about the anemia drug’s risks and benefits—and helped make Amgen rich.” In the book, “How We Do Harm,” Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, [...]
Deborah Cohen, on a BMJ blog, writes: Nestlé has just announced a three year partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)—an umbrella organisation representing national diabetes societies from around the world— as part of its contribution to the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Such diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer respiratory illness and diabetes. … The [...]
Elsewhere on the site this week, we reviewed several news stories about claims for a new “laxative-free colonoscopy.” Here’s more on alternatives to traditional colonoscopy in a guest post by Harold DeMonaco, MS – one of our expert editors on HealthNewsReview.org but also Director of the Innovation Support Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital. —————————————————————————– [...]
Read Bill Heisel’s column, “Journalists Bag a Big One: The American Pain Foundation.” Excerpt: The American Pain Foundation – an industry funded promoter of painkillers masquerading as a patient advocacy organization – closed its doors last week after it became the target of a U.S. Senate panel inquiry. The action by the U.S. Senate Finance [...]
We’re back to blogging after a week away in Beijing, China, where we led a journalism workshop co-hosted by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Institute and Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. It was a fascinating trip and we enjoyed the chance to share ideas and to discuss challenges and [...]
The website will be on hold over the next week, as I’m traveling to Beijing to help lead a workshop for Chinese journalists hosted by the National Cancer Institute and the Cancer Institute and Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. This will be the third international journalism workshop I’ve done with the National Cancer Institute – [...]
In the Wall Street Journal, Gautam Naik has a thoughtful piece, “Analytical Trend Troubles Scientists,” hitting on the limitations of – and the explosion in the number of – observational studies. Excerpts: “While the gold standard of medical research is the randomly controlled experimental study, scientists have recently rushed to pursue observational studies, which are [...]
The following is a guest post by Harold DeMonaco, one of our expert editors for HealthNewsReview.org and director of the Innovation Support Center at the Massachusetts General Hospital. ———————————————————— A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine is turning a few heads in the health policy arena. The cost of satisfaction: A national [...]
The Los Angeles Times wrote about an essay in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, stating: As if Dr. Paul Offit hasn’t made enough enemies already by insisting (correctly) that parents put their kids’ health at risk when they refuse to get them vaccinated, now the infectious disease expert appears to be picking a [...]
Overall, this was an easy-to-follow summary. But there was a clear difference between this and a competing Boston Globe story, which did a better job offering context and analysis.
This Boston Globe blog post gave its audience a more thorough understanding of an emerging approach to virtual colonoscopy than the Wall Street Journal.
Longer, but overall not any better, than the coverage from the competing LA Times story. Not thorough enough to explain what this preliminary research actually means for readers–which is not much at this point.
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