Clik here to view.
Not so fast: News headlines claiming two therapies were proven ‘equally...
Last week’s big health news was a study on two medication-assisted treatments for opioid use disorder. Published in The Lancet, the study compared the monthly injectable treatment Vivitrol (naltrexone)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MedPage Today’s ‘dinner table’ stories: Do readers really know what they’re...
On November 8, MedPage Today, one of the nation’s most widely read physician news sites, published a scathing critique of insurance industry functionaries headlined “Who is actually reviewing all those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Drug kills flu in a day, news headlines claim. Here’s why that’s bad for...
A Wall Street Journal story about a new drug that kills flu in a day certainly sounds exciting: “Japan has approved a drug that its maker says can kill the flu virus in 24 hours, advancing what health...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pharma backing of advocacy groups: a call for transparency
Lawmakers concerned about a mounting opioid crisis are pushing for the pharmaceutical industry to fully disclose their financial influence on patient advocacy groups. Last week Ontario enacted a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lowering the bar on Alzheimer’s drugs: STAT op-ed takes industry-friendly...
A recent op-ed published Monday in STAT insists that proposed FDA guidance for Alzheimer’s drug development is “good news” that “removes unnecessary barriers” to bring new medications to market. FDA...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Did a pricey cholesterol-lowering drug really reduce deaths, as headlines claim?
A highly anticipated clinical trial result for an expensive cholesterol-lowering drug drew plenty of news coverage over the weekend, with some stories declaring the drug, Praluent, reduced the risk of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When ‘fact-checked’ health news doesn’t tell the whole story
On the surface, this headline from Healthline.com looks like a good thing: It’s news about an experimental drug that shows promise in treating a severe form of MS. And the information has been...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Between news release hype and peer-reviewed publication, patients wait in limbo
There is a delay of about 300 days from the time a drug company issues a news release about a new study of a cancer drug, to the time the complete results of the study are published in a peer-reviewed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Consumer drug ads: The harms that come with pitching lifestyle over information
A study published last week finds that direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements on the four major television networks are increasingly emphasizing lifestyle over information. The findings — published...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What you need to know about claims of health care ‘firsts’
Spot the word “first” in a headline and you might assume a major milestone has been reached. Think first person on the moon, first woman on the Supreme Court. But in health care news, things heralded...
View Article
