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
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
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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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