Gary Schwitzer is a journalist and founder, HealthNewsReview.org.

How to better communicate medical numbers

Conditions and Diseases
November 16, 2025

An important paper, “How to communicate medical numbers,” was published in a recent edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This is so important, for the doctor-patient relationship, for what journalists write for the public, and for individual decision-making. One of the authors, Angie Fagerlin, PhD, of the University of Utah medical school and Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center, was interviewed for a …

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How to better communicate medical numbers

Fact-checking faces steep challenges in health care

Conditions and Diseases
September 23, 2019

Fact-checking has become one of the buzziest buzzwords in journalism. There are more than 100 fact-checking projects around the world. It’s been trotted out to counter alleged “fake” news.  And to monitor the accuracy of political leaders who stretch the boundaries of believability. April 2 has been proclaimed International Fact-Checking Day.

Indeed, genuine fact-checking may play an important role in political news coverage. FactCheck.org has been working in this space for 15 years. The …

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Fact-checking faces steep challenges in health care

Prostate cancer screening campaigns are giving men the finger

Conditions and Diseases
October 22, 2018

Fifty years ago, in a golden moment of television comedy shows, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In program regularly featured “The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate” award.  Wikipedia says it “recognized actual dubious achievements by public individuals or institutions.” Do a Google search.  You’ll quickly see how popular this award became.

Yes, I’m dating myself by going back 50 years.  But mine is the generation that often becomes obsessed with being given “the …

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Prostate cancer screening campaigns are giving men the finger

Cancer screening stories need to report on the uncertainties

Conditions and Diseases
March 16, 2012

A Miami Herald story, heralds “Prostate cancer hits younger men.”  You know right away how this one is going to play out.

The story begins by profiling a 48-year old man with prostate cancer.  It says his “doctor ordered the test as a routine practice for his male patients.”  There isn’t any discussion about how such ordering as a routine practice doesn’t demonstrate the kind of shared decision-making model that the …

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Cancer screening stories need to report on the uncertainties

Andrea Mitchell breast cancer thoughts

Conditions and Diseases
September 14, 2011

For the past 24 hours I’ve squirmed about whether to or how to criticize NBC’s Andrea Mitchell about her on-air announcement of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. How can you criticize someone who is dealing with what she – and so many other women – are dealing with? But it’s now clear that some breast cancer survivors and others who know the science are critical of the message …

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Andrea Mitchell breast cancer thoughts

Essential tips for medical journalists

Potpourri
September 13, 2011

We’re five years old. We’ve been doing the same thing the same way for five years and have analyzed over 1,488 stories using our ten standardized criteria on HealthNewsReview.org.

We’ve recently returned from the annual Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) conference in Philadelphia, where we led a two-hour workshop, and where we received a tremendous amount of gratifying feedback on our work and many terrific suggestions about new …

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Essential tips for medical journalists

Beware whenever you hear a story about a simple blood test

Conditions and Diseases
August 22, 2011

After seeing the NBC Nightly News last night, a physician urged me to write about what he saw: a story about a “simple blood test that could save women’s lives.”

Readers – and maybe especially TV viewers – beware whenever you hear a story about “a simple blood test.”

And this is a good case in point.

Brian Williams led into the story stating: “Two of three women who die suddenly of cardiac heart …

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Beware whenever you hear a story about a simple blood test

Analyzing the reporting of lung cancer CT screening

Conditions and Diseases
July 1, 2011

It’s been another challenging week for journalists covering various screening stories.

First the new analysis of Swedish mammography studies: Some familiar flaws surfaced in some stories.

Then came the followup analysis of the National Lung Screening Trial – first reported last fall.

This week various headlines announced:

  • More evidence CT scans better at detecting lung cancer
  • Study bolsters evidence that screening reduces lung cancer deaths
  • Nat’l Study Shows Long-Term Smokers Should Get Lung …

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Analyzing the reporting of lung cancer CT screening

When TV news departments partner with local medical centers

Patient
June 21, 2011

It’s not a new phenomenon. In fact, it’s troubling how old and widespread it is.

But when TV news departments partner with, and sell news time to local medical centers, you can take the Radio-Television Digital News Association’s code of ethics and throw it out the window.

Blythe Bernhard reports in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “In St. Louis, the latest media/hospital partnership is a campaign from Barnes-Jewish Hospital and local …

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When TV news departments partner with local medical centers

Cyberchondria repackaged as new local TV health news

Patient
April 4, 2011

So I’m watching the 6 pm local news last night and see a piece on KARE-11, my local NBC affiliate, about “a new buzzword called ‘cyberchonrdria'” — used to describe people who “Google their symptoms online and then worry over the multitude of results and possible diagnosis …”

But it’s clear from what they posted online that this was not …

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Cyberchondria repackaged as new local TV health news