Less than 24 hours after we blogged about USA Today’s story about some of the problems with celebrities’ health advice, the Associated Press reports that 71-year old Teresa Heinz, wife of Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, “says she is being treated for breast cancer discovered through mammography and argues that younger women should continue undergoing the tests despite a federal panel’s recent recommendation to reduce their frequency.”
As is typical with such stories, the celebrity was provided a platform for her views and there was no countering comment from any evidence-based supporter of the US Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Excelente conversación entre @garyschwitzer de @HealthNewsRevu y @marynmck sobre exageración y #COVID19 en el excelente MOOC de @utknightcenter. Vale la pena verlo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkgXiPojtg4&feature=youtu.be
Words of real wisdom, as usual @garyschwitzer
And: “There were no details, charts, graphs, numbers, nothing published in a journal."
#Pharma chairman:“If you don’t put out data people will say why are you withholding the data?”
Well, yes, that is exactly what people are asking. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1264572399523180548
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.
Sue H.
December 23, 2009 at 1:48 pmI agree with Ms. Heinz–the panel’s recommendation was given partly so women didn’t have to undergo unnecessary anxiety with a potential false alarm. But I think it’s safe to say most women can live with a little anxiety, but they don’t want to live with a little cancer. As a nurse I will still recommend that women get their mammogram annually after age 40. I hope that insurance companies continue to pay for this valuable preventive test that can & has saved many lives.
Gary Schwitzer
December 23, 2009 at 2:28 pmSue,
Thanks for your note.
As I try to remind visitors to this blog, the purpose of the site is to review the quality of journalism. We believe it is imbalanced for a news story to present only one well-known person’s view of this issue. That’s why we blogged about the AP story – not to re-open the rhetoric over the task force’s recommendations.
With all due respect, I don’t think you can say “it’s safe to say most women can live with a little anxiety” unless you have data to back that up.
For example, I’ve interviewed several dozen women who got a diagnosis of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) after having mammograms. The anxiety they told me they had to deal with was not trivial.
I react strongly to any claim of what “most women” think if no evidence is given to support that claim.
Gregory D. Pawelski
December 23, 2009 at 11:39 pmRather than explaining the science behind the recommendation, the news media exploited the politics of it. The press has succeeded in sowing seeds of confusion and doubt.
David Forbes
December 24, 2009 at 2:24 pmMost so called “main stream” journalism seems to be selling the sizzle and not the steak. It’s what keeps the buzz going and the advertisers happy. Celebrity is just a convenient platform to launch a story.
To a large degree, the consumers of news are to blame as well. Most people would rather get (and sadly trust more) their information filtered through a celebrity than from a well researched report.
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