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Weekly digest - August 26, 2013
trying to improve the public dialogue about health care by evaluating media messages
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Cures, quackery, questionable screening promotions at the State Fair
State Fair [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisgSNFlsC1fUNr3wm9t55i3d4_pVUo0Vwc_7eoXuU5CJyzHBICDiJTp5Dpoxni6EiBykYBEnV5dKjQgWPFsYLivQk5ZcV9yjudiqV3sOc_cRxu4RSQZjzr-6I8EkPUz0gnxUZcA5Pp7Kyw==]
I love going to the Minnesota State Fair (as I loved going to the Wisconsin State
Fair as a kid). But I don't like unbalanced State Fair screening test promotions
that have been endorsed every recent year by the NBC TV station in Minneapolis.
The KARE-11 "Know Your Numbers" campaign again this year includes promotion of
some numbers that leading experts say may not do you any good to know [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisgSNFlsC1fUNr3wm9t55i3d4_pVUo0Vwc_7eoXuU5CJyzHBICDiJTp5Dpoxni6EiBykYBEnV5dKjQgWPFsYLivQk5ZcV9yjudiqV3sOc_cRxu4RSQZjzr-6I8EkPUz0gnxUZcA5Pp7Kyw==].
It's a question of health care ethics and media ethics.
Minnesota Public Radio, along with the Science Museum of Minnesota, invited me to
help lead a State Fair discussion on quackery and claims of cures [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisgoX2yk7c0XqRQmA_Yq5yk6fKSGfIYQ7PaOmEs2YWWfyUzY_h9IIAYjMkTMswNWZVqqVGUiDyUVN-0hLc3CW6z6c9uD-PANJYLrCSdlYNmrjTkTxv-y0T87MPPUE9hM8AoPbFKB6ufVMbZZjhDifxYuOmF6aX2JU-bVPIMcHEjzJAjU1GcKz9_p81ZTfIg9CBQ=]
from days gone by...and to reflect on whether we still such stuff today.
Coincidentally this week, a journalist wrote about "Judgment Day for Hospital Websites,"
[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisgpCEEnUzTOcfSBdojGEZFrW7oDNwqPLgLJFKnOrJQfI00ZPYd7g1NCsThlW6EpQqiTJrUqmecOna41TQRhGGsimmIMHfBsB7vDtErPn8qMZUAa-EGm65OfuLhSRFhvHB-xLGk_U_MsrQJ3qm9-M0Rv-wzIdx6k5knG4UIKsLgvdgVAfpJvguWD4-YL0PvsjCKjPstlpier3DGilc60-8osTb9DUAiJjic=]
which she called "a reality check on this banal puffery."
Two highly-hyped medical technologies - with questions about both once again:
* Selling the Cyberknife on WCCO's CBS HealthWatch [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoishlQ9StTBdbDLkjBcbkW5FZPmCa6-EF1QFj4lszxmIr1roe2UvVzoyEK2yA1W1HgpeGG9-W-BZvI1cxr8dMz8KbXVMVvqeZ02v3C59yG0gHQP5DV5HznI9wRruYVEaK4s2Y_XNHGRT0ffrjBNE7Ap97MlPcmsE_FWkpjo_YcNVhaC2jPC14MhHHKXo28l7r_RGyVaw5KEklmQ==]
- another question of media ethics.
* Medscape asks: Robotic Surgery: Too Much, Too Soon? [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoishwrGOyasdIKx6EUooCY5NMSI-tHtkFc8VnzveAf3iE_QJ6ZcWNjvcNSPuq40VBQU3JOfqaThh-xqAxGAqtg4TBwTjO3bou6WZku71G77e7Fu3iSISnrvTEPcICccUmr1abRHWu7Re8z3ug4Xv1fyoMyCfxXNZY5t2VwOIyNiLBLHNqmT9yubAyQisy1r6bbmiDobb4v0-aCA==]
But our hype of the week trophy went to Prevention magazine for its story, "Silver
Bullet Cancer Drug Set to Begin Clinical Trials" [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisjxJwz22ZAcFFoM5ZNtx2k0XEq-lrRYrtDT8IUK_dvkiAfR4G-SnP2w_1_v5MIDZHLlHL1Z6Qkw2wtEr9NRBTR1B9vVU_9dnQjerb9te0h1YZq5ua_TvpWOsgjDjjeOJXNKqpUhWLHbWu3-hSJfgzu9iOwanTDrwCH5G3UL92lDUFeOHQUJHH99fDQh3zZh-nVs_zY7jKUFf8Z6BbNeBMn_tYFMbB50T_dJOJGs9xACq9cZYYS5ootRLQPbKZmse4I=]
- in which results in 5 mice were trumpeted.
We wrote about two more examples wherein we had to remind journalists and the public
that association ≠ causation:
* Scary coffee stories - add cream and two lumps of caveats [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoisg45b4NGSvoi5gfxkXCo7lEeQLu1CAoytiSxpNCqUFAzyUdRuN954zXdEEChT8rnrpIXrCrjGTt2Fm7SU0mJ6FU8aU_2TFynyjPAWJs0E_gRNz_MxW8GVcSO64Mp4uyunXB8pJ7evM9ip_7j1VTI3uYr4yGJHj7z1kEtCZ-MslXqA==]
* Splashy headlines about labor induction & autism risk [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoishzUjv2B_gjqHyVei6KrvgE-AYJF0iyS7b1j1dur8hnPbQSTI_5F_rXO_sKOfCE2u3h0gISIQ8eOrVN245100TZZo9slcRA4c86oHL9gkDRhNSThfM2T39h6ogk3F71GTHSNfTzdAuOjbu6v7zFDpVTzvlB8UUrZ9DY1sa12XW0wLtrfBocFtG88TuC_8dK0YASP9bknZfDXnG8sv5xUWKDbAEM0rHAKpWBjwtxy28MI8--0anCZdR3wN9nm9QxVYQ=]
Finally, as summer comes to an end, the best book on my summer reading list was
Dan Fagin's "Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation." [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LnpXj_hoishb3Dl1vdBcr-DA7_futTIb-mdKqjWo_B92HvIYg9-idz2UQ03l8oBNIVkBoNPYDYP_cLsnLVuCKlZqkd7BYPSmJeDKtUKDKag-DzefiIKYk8aJBBwqRyWMDInN9_cEoA8MIyRBggig4wmC3KeJPkzJifBlwdo_ak4cmoshz0zbyJjZ7bvH6tDAacl5K76PI97S--zVZfwoAA==]
The NY Times called it "a new classic of science reporting." I thought it was
masterful.
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Gary Schwitzer
Publisher
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