The following is a guest post by Harold DeMonaco, MS, one of our expert reviewers on HealthNewsReview.org, and a frequent guest blogger on this site. ———————- The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will hold its annual meeting starting on May 31st in Chicago, Illinois. While we have consistently cautioned against over reading the abstracts [...]
This is an updated version (on March 17) of the post that first appeared on March 11 – with new information. While the big American College of Cardiology conference was going on more than a week ago, you may have missed how a tangled mess in the way health care news is disseminated was on [...]
The American College of Cardiology holds its annual scientific sessions in San Francisco from March 9 – 13 this year. It is quite common for organizations like the ACC to send out news releases in advance of a meeting about papers that will be presented at the meeting. But it is uncommon for an organization [...]
Just a few weeks ago, HealthNewsReview.org analyzed several stories on a study of berries and women’s heart health. In our review of a HealthDay story, we noted: The story quotes two independent experts, preventive cardiologist Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum and nutritionist Dana Greene. We wish that the experts were quoted on a more analytical view of [...]
I’ve been too nice the past two years, calling my year-enders “PR puffery” or “PR stuff.” The stuff I’m writing about here is pure crap. So we’re calling it that. This annual series is about the bombardment of news releases sent to journalists who are trying to decide what is vital information for readers, viewers [...]
As the latest manifestation of the ACSM’s support for what we do, see one of their recent news releases which includes at the end this tag: The American College of Sports Medicine supports the 10 Criteria for Responsible Health Reporting as articulated by Health News Review. Beggars can’t be choosers, my Dad always reminded me. [...]
Last week, the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s annual conference was held in Boston, and several papers were presented on proton beam therapy, and several medical centers sent out news releases about their involvement in the work. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Loma Linda University Medical Center in California were two that we [...]
And it may happen on many other days as well – with them – or with others. But these two got our goat. 1. New MRI MIght Help Spot Heart Disease Early: Study It’s entirely based on a news release from the journal Radiology. There is no independent analysis of claims such as this: “The [...]
A paper by a French team in PLoS Medicine, “Misrepresentation of Randomized Controlled Trials in Press Releases and News Coverage: A Cohort Study,” shows once again “the tendency for press releases and the associated media coverage of randomized clinical trials to place emphasis on the beneficial effects of experimental treatments.” More from the paper: “This [...]
The following is a guest post by Kevin Lomangino, one of our story reviewers on HealthNewsReview.org. He is an independent medical journalist and editor who is currently Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Nutrition Insight, a monthly evidence-based newsletter which reviews the scientific literature on nutrition for physicians and dietitians. He tweets as @Klomangino. ———————————————– With the summer [...]
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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