Media and Medicine | KevinMD.com

Physicians writing on KevinMD about how the news covers medicine: bad science in headlines, misinformation and how to answer it, television doctors and the physician as influencer, drug stigma in photographs, and what it costs a patient when a story gets it wrong. Most of the archive dates from 2008 to 2016, when medical journalism was a daily argument on the site; the recent posts are about misinformation and reputation.

How academic physicians are being used as live bait for journalists

Larry Husten, PhD

Physician

April 3, 2011

Here’s something little known outside of the small circle of industry marketers, academic docs, PR flacks, and medical journalists: pharmaceutical and device companies (or their PR agencies) regularly offer to arrange interviews with well-known academic physicians to talk about new trials, drug approvals, and other items of obvious interest to the companies involved.

I receive these sort of invitations all …

Let Me Down Easy and facing illness and death

Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD

Physician

February 17, 2011

Every illness is unique, and every person faces illness in his or her own way.

Anna Deveare Smith, in her one-woman Broadway show “Let Me Down Easy,” slips into the persona of twenty individuals who have faced an aspect of illness or death. In ninety minutes, Deveare Smith takes the audience on an existential scavenger hunt, allowing us to observe, and occasionally pluck, insights from this gathering of individuals.

These individuals do …

How the vaccine and autism scare was a fraud to make money

Toni Brayer, MD

Medications

January 13, 2011

Most parents and all pediatricians are aware of the 1998 study published in The Lancet by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that mentioned a causal link between measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and the increased incidence of childhood autism. It shook the medical community and created an international movement of parents questioning the extensive combination of immunizations that are given to children. Could these immunizations be the cause of the increase in …

Mischaracterizations by the popular media of medical conditions

Kevin

Conditions and Diseases

January 12, 2011

by Joyce Graff

Medical dramas can play powerful roles in increasing awareness of rare diseases, but it’s critical that the diseases are portrayed accurately. Mischaracterizations by the popular media of medical conditions, particularly rare ones, can be very demeaning to people afflicted with those conditions, and can affect how people look at them in the workplace or at school.

The TV show, Grey’s Anatomy recently broadcast the first …

Is the media responsible for childhood eating disorders?

Claire McCarthy, MD

Patient

January 3, 2011

I really don’t want my children to be overweight. I know this because I see the consequences every day in my practice, consequences like high blood pressure, impending diabetes, or poor self-esteem.

At the same time, I really, really don’t want my children to have an eating disorder. I know this because I had one.

In college, I suffered from anorexia nervosa. I’m a little more than 5 feet 9 inches tall, …

Conspiracies against vaccines: Blame the media

Jennifer Gunter, MD

Conditions and Diseases

December 1, 2010

How did the idea that vaccines are dangerous, toxin-filled CDC experiments metastasize so quickly from the fringe to the mainstream?

Keep in mind that not only have vaccines been scientifically proven to be safe, but that some of the arguments against vaccines are so scientifically incredulous they are the equivalent of saying there is a UFO sitting in Central Park right now.

So let’s begin at the beginning. In 1998 Andrew Wakefield …

US News hospital rankings too subjective and encourage self-promotion

Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD

Physician

October 28, 2010

Every year US News & World Report publishes its rankings of the nation’s top 50 hospitals. Hospital administrators await this top 50 report with a tension and fervor that rivals the NFL first-draft pick.

As soon as the report is released, snippets rocket their way into donor appeals, local hospital signage, and highway billboards. “Ranked X by US News & World Report” becomes a descriptor that is supposed to …

Pfizer spending money to train journalists in how to cover cancer

Merrill Goozner

Conditions and Diseases

October 5, 2010

The National Press Foundation is sponsoring a four-day, all expenses paid trip to Washington for 15 reporters to learn how to improve their coverage of cancer issues. Pfizer is funding the seminar.

Former University of Minnesota journalism professor Gary Schwitzer writes:

Even if National Press Foundation staff choose the speakers and set the agenda, even if the Pfizer “guy never even showed up” last year, even if one reporter doesn’t recall Pfizer …

Read more…

Pfizer spending money to train journalists in how to cover cancer

The New York Times changes the Dartmouth Atlas narrative

Kevin

Health Policy

June 7, 2010

Several have asked me to comment on the New York Times versus Dartmouth Atlas spat.

In summary, the Dartmouth Atlas comprises of studies showing variation in care for Medicare recipients. Their main, take home message is that high-spending areas of the country sometimes had poorer outcomes than lower-spending ones.

Their work has been influential with the current administration, and among progressive health reformers. Last week however, the New York Times published a …

Cancer side effects are being ignored by the media

Kevin

Conditions and Diseases

March 25, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by John Gever, MedPage Today Senior Editor

When the mainstream media report on cancer treatments, they seldom note that aggressive therapies may fail or cause severe side effects, researchers said.

Analyzing more than 400 articles about cancer in major newspapers and magazines, investigators at the University of Pennsylvania found that adverse outcomes or palliative care were hardly …

Why The Biggest Loser uses CT scans to help contestants lose weight

Kevin

Conditions and Diseases

February 15, 2010

Originally published in MedPage Today

by Cole Petrochko

The train wreck has become an integral part of reality TV programming, and that’s terrible. As much as I’ve learned on the internet about the “Snooki Punch” fiasco from MTV’s Jersey Shore, there’s little to watching a household of adults thrown together under a wacky premise turn into overgrown, throat-seeking children under lights and a camera, except on the one-season CBS show Kid …

Read more…

Why The Biggest Loser uses CT scans to help contestants lose weight

How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

Toni Brayer, MD

Social Media in Medicine

February 9, 2010

The newest media doc on the block is Dr. Mehmet Oz. When he was first seen on Oprah, he seemed engaging and answered some interesting questions in a real and professional way. The audience loved his blue scrubs and boyish clean cut open style.

That was then.

Let’s face it . . . the media spotlight seems to corrupt even the best physicians. Dr. Oz now has his own show and …

Read more…

How fame has corrupted Dr. Mehmet Oz

Telling a patient story and the issues facing physician writers

Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD

Social Media in Medicine

February 6, 2010

There is a veritable epidemic of doctor-writers out there. What is going on?

Are doctors suddenly in the kiss-and-tell mode? What about confidentiality? Professionalism? HIPAA?

As one of the aforementioned doctor-writers, I look upon this trend with both awe and trepidation. I suspect that that this flourishing literary phenomenon relates to the public’s fascination and fear about all things medical. It also relates to the falling away of previous, pedestal-like images of …

Read more…

Telling a patient story and the issues facing physician writers

Why it’s important to brand your medical practice

Kevin

Physician

December 7, 2009

Originally published in HCPLive.com

by Jeff Brown, MD

You might be thinking, “Why should I consider branding or marketing?” And your reasoning might go something like this:

1. As a doctor, I already have a powerful, built-in identity;
2. My practice is full;
3. Even if my practice isn’t full, Congress is in the process of putting 40 million more insured people into the available patient pool over the next few years.

Read more…

Why it’s important to brand your medical practice

Saying no to a re-tweet request, and whether Twitter as a legitimate news source

Marya Zilberberg, MD, MPH

Social Media in Medicine

November 15, 2009

The other day I re-tweeted a tweet from someone whose Twitter activity I enjoy very much. I like where his links take me, and I appreciate the intellectual and emotional honesty of his own writing. The message I re-tweeted was about Gardasil, Merck’s HPV vaccine marketed in the US.

Diane Harper of the University of Missouri is a prominent researcher who was heavily involved in the Gardasil development program. Over the …

Read more…

Saying no to a re-tweet request, and whether Twitter as a legitimate news source

Why is the American College of Rheumatology barring the media from adding CME?

MedPage Today

Social Media in Medicine

November 9, 2009

by Robert Stern, MA, CCMEP

In our continuing saga with the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and their oppressive media policies, one of our readers kindly forwarded a letter received by her from the president of the ACR who provides his justification for attempting to restrict MedPage Today’s access to their annual meeting.

For context, let’s begin with the letter from …

Read more…

Why is the American College of Rheumatology barring the media from adding CME?

Most Popular

Past Week

Retirement isn’t the end of medicine, it’s a second act [PODCAST]
The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

The conflict of interest that discloses as nothing
Martha Rosenberg | Medications

Surgical judgment: the skill no one sees from the gallery
Mustafa Kemal Çalık, MD | Physician

Why haven’t ambient AI scribes boosted productivity?
Karan Kanwar | Health Technology

Why exhaustion can make you see things that aren’t there [PODCAST]
The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Physician well-being is not an individual problem
Heather Buckley | Conditions and Diseases

Past 6 Months

Why CDC opioid guidelines get the overdose data wrong
Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Conditions and Diseases

Retirement isn’t the end of medicine, it’s a second act [PODCAST]
The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Sensory processing in autism and the brain’s volume control
Josette Pelatan, PhD | Conditions and Diseases

What maternity care deserts cost a town
Manisha Kaliaperumal | Health Policy

Why medicine needs a national physician license now
Vaishali Popat, MD, MPH | Physician

A cold cost $945. The cost of primary care is broken.
Susan Newman, MD | Physician

Recent Posts

Why exhaustion can make you see things that aren’t there [PODCAST]
The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

3 reforms to counter wellness influencers in practice
Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD | Physician

Shift work and circadian rhythms shape the 24/7 workplace
Deepak Gupta, MD | Conditions and Diseases

Physicians paid for G2211 twice. Most never bill it.
Michael Duben, MD | Physician Finance

Medicaid managed care and the case for mutual stewardship
Steven Merahn, MD | Health Policy

Choosing a limb lengthening surgeon requires accountability
Hrayr Basmajian, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.