Wish I had a nickel for every story about vagus nerve stimulation that trumpeted it as a treatment for depression.
This week, Medicare rejected Cyberonics’ implantable nerve stimulator, saying the device, the VNS Therapy System, hasn’t been shown to be necessary. The $25,000 device is already approved for epilepsy. Cyberonics wanted to expand its use.
Bloomberg News reports “The Food and Drug Administration approved the device in 2005 to treat depression, overruling 20 agency advisers who urged rejection.???
On the Cyberonics website the company boasted of dozens of news stories from across the country over the past two years, with headlines such as:
“Implant can relieve depression: VNS Therapy is proving beneficial.”
“Omahan says she’s proof device zaps depression.”
“Emerging from the depths of depression.”
“The Pacemaker for the Brain” is Saving Lives.”
“Up from hopelessness.”
“Implanted device helps fight drug-resistant depression – Giving new hope”
Among the media reporting the potential for the device:
U.S. News & World Report
Saturday Evening Post
Redbook
Reuters Health
Arizona Daily Star
San Antonio Express News
El Paso Times
Corpus Christi Caller Times
Toledo Blade
Omaha World Herald
Chicago Tribune
KSAT, San Antonio
WMUR Manchester, NH
WCCO, Minneapolis
KETV, Omaha
KUTV, Salt Lake City
KSL, Salt Lake City,
WBZ, Boston
WCBV Boston
WISN, Milwaukee
WKYC, Cleveland
KTBS, Shreveport
KOMO, Seattle
Each one of those news organizations owes it to their audience to play up the Medicare rejection of the device as prominently as they promoted the potential in the giddy glory days.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
We’ve written about the hype of liquid biopsies for years (see link in comment below). And now this…. https://www.statnews.com/2022/01/12/medicare-shouldnt-cover-liquid-biopsies-early-cancer-detection/
Case counts still matter. “(There) are stories that may not be told adequately if only hospitalizations and deaths are emphasized.” @garyschwitzer interviewed by @dbauder of @AP. https://apnews.com/article/omicron-changing-news-outlets-covid-data-da9272f7c4c8a109c3bfb56bed9e9c76
My friend Gary @garyschwitzer wrote to his city council representative in a Minnesota town about a Viva Las Vegas event scheduled for January.
The response he got seems to perfectly capture where we are now.
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/12/2021-ends-with-covid-craziness-in-sports-and-politics/
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Comments are closed.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like