Kudos to Chen May Yee and the Star Tribune for a front-page story on how screening tests offered by for-profit companies may cause more harm than good and may be a waste of money.
I slammed the Strib almost exactly one year ago for a non evidence-based article promoting screening tests.
So let this blog posting be further evidence that I’m not out to bash all health care news – just the schlock.
Today’s Strib story – by a smart, dedicated journalist – showed enterprise, depth, and a concern for how readers may be misled and hurt by profit-driven screening promotions.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
Comments
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Chris McIntyre
February 9, 2009 at 11:53 amGreat find! I am amazed almost every day by the things some people do in healthcare. On one hand, I am glad people are trying to take their health (and preventative care) into their own hands, but when they waste money on things like this, it just makes me angry :)
There are so many great things that could be tested for and recommendations that could be made to make our society more healthy without inserting the fear of certain diseases and issues.
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