In 2005, as I began building HealthNewsReview.org, I got permission from Dr. David Henry of the Media Doctor Australia project to adopt their news story review criteria. In the ensuing 13 years, no one has ever placed in front of me a solid, specific suggestion for a better set of criteria for reviewing stories about […]
In 2015, a few months before I started working at HealthNewsReview.org, Cosmopolitan magazine published my article, “Why are so many American women dying in childbirth?” Tired of women getting blamed for the problem, I used my personal story to explore the fissures in U.S. maternal health care: At the hospital where I gave birth, and […]
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Craving a trip to Florida in February? If you’re a journalist, the Mayo Clinic has you covered. Once again Mayo is extending an offer to educate health care journalists, this time with what it’s calling a “residency” scheduled for Feb. 24-28 at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. It’s described as “a behind-the-scenes, in-depth look […]
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In this, our final week of daily publishing as we wind down operations due to a loss of sufficient funding, I want to share some observations after a 45-year career in health care journalism, 13 of which were the pinnacle for me as Publisher of this website. Earlier this year, after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “surprise” primary election […]
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The 5-star writing we feature below highlights an interesting contrast: the obvious and the obscure. On the one hand, I’m guessing it’s fairly obvious to many of us that some physicians have ties to industry money; but on the other hand, is it widely known that some doctors and medical journals are blatantly refusing to […]
I read a lot of health news, as part of my daily search of eligible news stories for our team to review. So much so that I notice health claims in all kinds of unusual places. Even in fiction. My book club recently read “The Little Prince,” the classic story written by French pilot Antoine de […]
Predicting and preventing. These are powerful words that hold strong appeal for most of us, especially when it comes to our health. But the reality is this: There are very few diseases that can be predicted and prevented. Try to name just one and you’ll see that it’s rarely, if ever, possible. And yet we […]
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Many of you have asked by email or on Twitter, “Where do we turn for help after you go away?” First, we’re not disappearing on January 1, 2019, and the site won’t go dark. I’ll keep it alive for at least three years. And I hope to add new content periodically by hiring freelancers or writing […]
In 1997 Frank Furedi — an emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Kent — wrote a critically acclaimed book entitled, “How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the 21st Century.” In that book he tells the story of the public reaction to a magazine cover portraying a little girl fishing with her father. […]
Australian researchers at the University of Queensland reported that “a quick and easy test to detect cancer from blood or biopsy tissue could eventually result in a new approach to patient diagnosis.” A news release quoted one of the researchers: “We certainly don’t know yet whether it’s the holy grail for all cancer diagnostics.” He also […]
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
@HealthNewsRevu "There’s no harm in trying to make a buck, per se. But there is harm in promoting things that are not backed up by evidence, and in converting normal states of health into sickness" https://t.co/aeUTK4CVAs
Men’s Health Month: "Some of it was thinly-veiled, profit-driven fear-mongering," says @garyschwitzer: https://t.co/MOWdxlenvz
Tips & Resources for Analyzing Health Care Claims
