Search Results for "fear-mongering"
News media herald ‘male fertility death spiral,’ but is the fear-mongering accurate?
Last week headline writers seized upon a study looking at falling sperm counts in men. “Sperm count drop ‘could make humans extinct,’” a BBC news article warned. Quartz explained that “Most men in the US and Europe could be infertile by 2060′ and CNN let us know that “Sperm counts in Western Men Plummeting, Analysis Finds.” Environmental Health News added […]
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Health fear-mongering: Could our news be making us sicker?
You’ve just finished reading a news story about a common food ingredient that researchers now believe may increase your risk of cancer — maybe the type of cancer that a close relative died from a few years ago. You’ve got chest pain. Your heart is racing. You feel nauseous and you’re sweating. The overriding feeling […]
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Food emulsifiers and cancer: Fear-mongering stories needed to dig deeper than the news release
“This common processed food ingredient causes cancer in mice.” So much to unpack from just one little headline, which ran on TIME.com earlier this week. First, the headline is wrong. The research at hand didn’t actually prove the food ingredient (emulsifiers) caused cancer. Not. Even. Close. Second, it’s about mice. Yes, it’s good to see […]
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Fear-mongering of smart phones based on stressed-out rats is just silly
The iPhone and related devices are changing our world in countless ways. Are they also changing our children’s brains? Researchers are scrambling to keep up with the possible implications for child development. Much of this research is preliminary and in some cases relies on animals. And there are notable pitfalls when journalists cover emerging research […]
Release on aneurysm preventative morphs from fear-mongering to dubious claim
A scary opener followed by bold claims followed by just one number adds up to a very misleading release.
Taking cholesterol medication before aneurysm repair improves outcomes
Incomplete, fear-mongering message from NBC’s “diet may kill prostate cancer survivors”
This story tries too hard to generate interest in a study on diet and prostate cancer recurrence. And the coverage is incomplete.
Average U.S. Diet May Kill Prostate Cancer Survivors
Orac on Oz: fear-mongering over cellphones, bras and cancer
On Twitter, one journalist wrote: “Has Dr. Oz reached his reprehensible worst?” See Orac’s post on ScienceBlogs for the entire story – which begins: “These days, Dr. Oz seems to stand for everything I oppose in medicine: Fear mongering, quackery, making claims that he can’t back up with science, and, of course, filthy lucre.” […]
4 12/4/2013Seth Mnookin says Katie Couric is fear-mongering on HPV vaccine
Seth Mnookin, author of The Panic Virus, and blogging under that same title, writes, “Katie Couric promotes dangerous fear mongering with show on the HPV vaccine.” Excerpt: On July 10, 2012, I received an email from a producer at Katie, Katie Couric’s daytime talk show, about a show the program was planning on vaccines. Here was […]
6/25/2012Forbes column on fear-mongering of dirty hotel rooms
On Forbes.com, Andrew Bender writes, “Is Your Hotel Room Contaminated? Or Is The Media Hype Making You Sick?” He reflects on what he calls “fear-mongering based on ..a self-admittedly inconclusive study.” Meantime, lots of ink (or digits) for this study: an MSNBC story making the rounds of NBC station websites across the country Reuters: […]
1/11/2012Health policy fear-mongering fraud on radio call-in show – how often does this occur on American airwaves?
In more than 7 years of blogging about health care messages affecting the public dialogue, I don’t think I’ve ever written before about radio call-in programs. But this one hit pretty close to home. Nothing makes me more upset than people fear-mongering and lying about health care to suit their own interests. I don’t listen […]
10/10/2011Candidate for “most fear-mongering health care statement of the year”
Blogger Patrick Malone writes: “The Award for Most Fear-Mongering Health Care Statement of the Year … goes to Skip Lockwood, head of a prostate cancer advocacy group called Zero. When the US Preventive Services Task Force recommended against routine screening of men with the PSA blood test, Lockwood said the PSTF’s advice “condemns tens of […]
9/15/2011Sour apples in land of Oz as FDA rips his apple juice fear-mongering
MedPage Today reports: Mehmet Oz, MD, the Columbia University thoracic surgeon who gained fame first in books and more recently with his syndicated television show, has run afoul of the Food and Drug Administration with his report about levels of arsenic in popular brands of apple juice. The FDA called the report “irresponsible and misleading” […]
9/2/2011Food fear-mongering by “The Doctors”
“Trust me, you’re going to be shocked….we all should be a little bit afraid.” That’s how “The Doctors” TV show teases one of its programs, along with this: “Each year, millions of chemicals are poured into American foods. From doughnuts to fresh produce, The Doctors reveals the toxic ingredients lurking in your grocery bag. And, […]
10/27/2010Drug company settles case complaining of prostate cancer fear-mongering
Duff Wilson of the New York Times reports: The German drug giant Bayer on Tuesday settled complaints by three states that it had deceptively used the fear of prostate cancer to sell One A Day vitamins without proof the pills could prevent prostate cancer. The settlement, announced by the states and the advocacy group Center […]
2 6/16/2010My opinion: feds' ads fuel fear-mongering about screening tests
First, let me emphasize that I believe that the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) was well-intentioned with its new “just in time for Father’s Day” ad campaign, described by the Wall Street Journal’s Laura Landro, who reports: “A darkly humorous ad campaign being launched this week aims to tackle the serious issue […]
