This is a another very informative column in the continuing excellent “Healthy Skeptic” series in the Los Angeles Times. This column examines health claims made about certain energy drinks. It provided some insight about the grain of truth that could possibly be said to underlie the claims made about thes products and then provides a clear explanation as to why the asserted claim is not relevant in the context of the product making the claim. This was a real strength of the story. Perhaps readers will take away a more generalizable message about how they should think about product claims.
Kudos to the writer for making the informational points in an engaging fashion – and to the paper for finding time and space for such work.
The story included prices for several of the products described.
The story debunked the company claims of benefit about vitamin B supplementation of energy drinks.
The story provided accurate information about a potential harm of excess consumption of vitamin B-6.
The story debunked product information propagated by the companies with information from an individual with relevant expertise.
The story included anecdotal information about the ‘research’ findings of the writer. It couched this appropriately.
The story did not engage in overt disease mongering.
The story utilized product claims from advertisements and comments from an individual with relevant expertise in the field.
The story mentioned means, other than the featured products, for obtaining recommended levels of vitamin B-6 and B-12.
The story mentioned the availability of the products discussed.
The story mentioned that highlighted inclusion of B vitamins in energy drinks is a relatively new phenomena.
There is no evidence that this article relied on a news release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Take all the issues enmeshed in any cancer screening story and amplify it with the liquid biopsy issue. @AP's @CarlaKJohnson. did a solid job here. https://apnews.com/article/science-business-health-hodgkin-lymphoma-oregon-ca899bb9c4c7f1859d4e9ce16a1cf78d
Come on, NY Times; you must do better than this. Important research doesn’t need hype and the “breaking news” BS doesn’t help readers or patients. https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2022/03/nyt-proclaims-breaking-news/
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.
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