I want to give a couple of plugs for interesting new health news blogs.
The Wall Street Journal health news blog is terrific.
One recent entry was on the trial that âshowed that using stents in stable patients with mild to moderate chest pain doesnât reduce the risk of heart attacks compared with drugs alone. ⦠The Health Blogâs take-away: The idea of clearing out clogged arteries is so appealing, and the idea of leaving them clogged so terrifying, that patients and doctors are inclined to open them up, even if the data say that wonât do much good.â?
And another entry analyzed the new questions about the benefits of mammography for women in their 40s. It included a quote from a mammography expert: âThe evidence shows that it does help some women [in their 40s] â” but the evidence shows that itâs only six out of 10,000 over a decade.â? If only some mainstream news media could analyze the data as concisely as that.
Another noteworthy blog is Pharmalot.com – âa home for lively discussion about news and trends in the pharmaceutical industry. The guy behind the curtain is Ed Silverman, a veteran journalist for The Star-Ledger of New Jersey.â? Interestingly, this is Edâs fulltime baby. He doesnât even file for the paper anymore.
It’s good to see that some news organizations are catching on to this Web thing.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Puleeeeease... this 'game changer' weight loss drug causes more nausea and vomiting than a placebo. Some game, some change. My friend Gary would spank you for using the eighth word medical reporters should never, ever use. @garyschwitzer @thackerpd
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/just-journalists-writing-tips-case-studies/7-words-and-more-you-shouldnt-use-in-medical-news/ https://twitter.com/OttawaCitizen/status/1361426796126830597
A scary @statnews Op-Ed warns that govt attempts to rein in Pharma may cut off access to "life-changing" drugs.
It takes @garyschwitzer to let us know: the author spent 10 years as Pfizer's public-policy chief. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1360325022578053123
.@TranspariMED criticizes STAT op-ed for not disclosing pharma funding of author’s institute - similar to criticism we’ve made of STAT op-eds in the past. @transparify @ThinkTankWatch @icer_review https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/02/transparency-watchdog-criticizes-stats-non-disclosure-on-pro-pharma-op-ed/
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