The Gannett Company has sold a 32-page issue of an insert entitled “USA Weekend HealthSmart” to drug company advertisers and to newspapers across the country. The New York Times reports that the insert appeared in 76 newspapers with an estimated circulation of 7.5 million. I was one. I am no smarter for having scanned the […]
6/21/2006At least CNN doesn’t discriminate based on gender when it gives screening test advice that clashes with evidence-based guidelines. Back in February, CNN’s Sanjay Gupta gave screening test recommendations to men at various ages. The advice flew in the face of unbiased, authoritative guidelines of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Then on Mother’s […]
6/20/2006Dartmouth’s Steve Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz have studied the pitfalls of news coverage based on scientific meetings. Their new work, in the Medical Journal of Australia, looked at print and broadcast news stories based on research reports at five major scientific meetings on heart disease, AIDS, cancer, neuroscience and radiology. Results: “34% of the 187 […]
6/19/2006What ethical standards still exist at Time magazine? Or do they exist and they’re just being ignored? The Center for Science in the Public Interest points out that this week’s Time magazine includes a column by Dr. Andrew Weil touting the benefits of fish oil supplements. CSPI says, “The column was sparked by a recent […]
6/18/2006CNN has been giving viewers screening test advice that does not reflect the best medical evidence. In my last Publisher’s Note I pointed out how CNN’s on-air advice conflicted with evidence-based guidelines when it advised men in their 40s, 50s and 60s about screening tests they should have. That segment was broadcast in February. In […]
5/19/2006First, this is not “beat up on the Star Tribune week.” There’s no agenda here. Sometimes events and patterns unfold before one’s eyes. On Monday, in my “Proportionality in Journalism” entry, I wrote about Mother’s Day weekend stories in several media – “endless weapy stories about breast cancer. But few hard issue-oriented stories about breast […]
As my research has shown, whenever ratings-sweeps periods roll around, television news departments miraculously find time to cure the problem of not having enough time to devote to health news. In my market, Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the May sweeps period has been filled with tears, joy and new hope surrounding dramatic breakthroughs and promising developments for […]
5/11/2006In early February, on CNN’s American Morning program, CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta discussed “tips for men” about what kind of medical tests they should have in their 30s, 40s and 50s. (Transcript) Gupta and guest, Dr. Christopher Kelly of NYU School of Medicine, then listed a series of tests they recommend for men […]
4/20/2006OK, so many news stories today are reporting the new statistics suggesting (with lots of head-scratching and remaining doubts by some observers) that the U.S. had the biggest single-year decline in deaths since 1938. If true, who or what gets the credit? The Star Tribune, in its first sentence,says it’s “a powerful testament to medical […]
2 4/18/2006First day traffic to the new HealthNewsReview.org website was strong yesterday, with thousands of journalists and consumers visiting the site. Public comment has been overwhelmingly positive. Merrill Goozner of the Center for Science in the Public Interest wrote on his blog: “…I’m hoping a new effort by journalism professor Gary Schwitzer of the University of […]
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Pharma & device companies love to see more stories about health issues they sell treatments for. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1197599541698211842
Important story about #healthjournalism here; don’t do it. Do not compromise your integrity by taking #BigPharma money for a sunny junket. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1197599541698211842
Tips & Resources for Analyzing Health Care Claims
