This is a story about some of the new medical devices either on the market or in development to help people with serious heart conditions live longer. The story included several personal vignettes of individuals whose lives have been markedly improved with the technology. The story did a good job providing an interesting description of technology, but it failed to included any quantitative information that readers could use for insight about the likelihood of benefit or of harm from the use of the devices.
It is not possible for readers to evaluate the value of a treatment in the absence of information about how well devices work, how often problems occur, and how much treatment costs. So, while we applaud the space and time provided to report on this topic, we think that some of the space and time should have been given over to an exploration of some of the issues we look for in our criteria.
There was no discussion of costs – a huge issue. We learn a portfolio manager’s projection of the size of the potential market, but not a word about costs to the individual or to society.
The three patients interviewed had clear improvement in their quality of life. The story provided no data to assess how representative their experience was.
The story mentioned that infections, bleeding and stroke are fairly common without explaining what "common" really means. Are these problems that occur in more than half of patients? 25% 10% or ?%.
The story also raised the issue of what to do when the implanted device is able to keep pumping even though the patient’s other organ systems have shut down. But it provided no insight about how often this issue was something families of patients have to deal with.
The story included human interest vignettes rather than evidence. The story said that one of the manufacturers cited 1-2 year survival data of 60-70%, but we weren’t told if this is published and, if so, where. That’s not a rigorous evaluation of the evidence.
There is no disease-mongering of end-stage cardiovascular disease. But there is in another area. The story raised the specter of ‘unnatural death’, a potential issue that can come up for patients who have the implanted device. It quoted a clinical ethicist saying, "It’s not hard to imagine a person who has had severe stroke that has impacted both sides of the brain, the kidneys are shutting down, he is on a respirator, but yet the LVAD just keeps churning along." But stories should do more than "imagine" – they should report on true track records. The story didn’t give readers an idea of how frequently this is an issue.
Several clinicians and patients were interviewed as part of this story.
The story did not compare outcomes of patients following different treatment approaches.
It was clear from this story that the HeartMate II is an available product though the story did not indicate whether implantation of the device was something that could be done at any hospital or only in specialty facilities.
The story was pretty clear that the LVAD and TETS technology had been around.
Given the depth of the story, it’s clear that it didn’t rely solely or largely on a news release.
Systematic, Criteria-Driven
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
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