Last week, Steven Brill asked on the Columbia Journalism Review website, “Are Diane Sawyer, Scott Pelley and Brian Williams hooked on Cymbalta?” Excerpt: Every time I suffer through the (simultaneously timed) commercial breaks on one of the network evening news shows I wish I could read a story about prescription drug advertising on television. I’ll [...]
John Ioannidis, MD, of Stanford, whom the CommonHealth/WBUR bloggers referred to as the “renowned mythbuster of medicine,” asks in a JAMA viewpoint piece, “Are Medical Conferences Useful? And for Whom?” (unfortunately, subscription required for full text access). The CommonHealth blog explains: After many years of questioning assumptions and seeking harder data on everything from surgery [...]
There has been no need for the Watchdog to weigh in on the Planned Parenthood/Komen fiasco this week. We generally tend to write about things that otherwise might go un-noticed. This issue – deservedly – was inescapable this week in news stories and through social media. We remind you that we tend to focus on [...]
The following was originally published on the Reporting on Health website by Barbara Feder Ostrov, deputy editor of that site. That site and ours are now frequently exchange content. —————————————————————————————————————————————- Every January, there’s plenty of media coverage of weight loss, New Year’s fitness resolutions and other consumer health news intended to get couch potatoes off [...]
3 months ago we blogged about a longtime Tampa Bay TV anchorman shifting – in retirement – to being a paid spokesman for a Medicare Advantage plan. Now we see that former Charleston, SC The Post and Courier columnist Ken Burger is doing promotions for a local health care provider organization, but it’s how this [...]
“TV newscasts are increasingly seeded with corporate advertising masquerading as news — and the federal government wants to do something about it,” reports the Washington Post. It’s an issue that may have arisen more often with health news than with any other topic. A quick (and probably incomplete) scan of this blog shows we’ve written [...]
A sleigh led by a dog. Hey, the red-nosed reindeer had nothing on this mutt. Like Rudolph’s maiden voyage with the fat man, this is the Watchdog’s first time hosting the Wonk Review. So buckle up for a wild ride. Man, there’s a lot in Santa’s bag: unbundling the bundle in the jungle, [...]
The Watchdog’s elves are everywhere this Christmas season, and one of them reports that a New Jersey medical center is promoting its robotic surgery system in a very upscale mall. This particular elf took a photo to send to Watchdog Santa. It turns out that a local news website added to the medical center’s free [...]
I have written many times on this blog about one shining example of the medical arms race – the slow (some would say not so slow), steady, proliferation of huge and hugely expensive proton beam radiation facilities in medical centers in the US. I have written about how the proliferation never seems to occur in [...]
A column on the website of the Radio Television Digital News Association raises questions about the widespread practice of radio news anchors reading commercials on the air. Excerpts: “The principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity and public accountability are in danger with this practice. We are crossing the line, throwing ourselves into the position of becoming [...]
This story focuses on a family that may have a rare genetic mutation that increases their risk of heart disease. Unfortunately, the “rare” part wasn’t mentioned until 1,600 words into this 2,100 word story.
While this story adequately addressed 7 of our 10 criteria, the 3 on which it missed were significant omissions, yet could have been easily addressed.
Solid medical conference reporting, with many expert interviews and good context provided. Goes far beyond the conference presentation itself.
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