Category Archives: Media-related issues

Want to see a real food war? This is the stoush to watch

November 6, 2009 – 6:08 pm

In case you missed it, there’s been a minor food spat going on at Crikey. When the nutritionist, Dr Rosemary Stanton, called for foods to be taxed according to their carbon footprint, this, predictably enough, got right up the noses of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, as well as their friends at the Institute [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in Food, climate change, obesity, public health | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (4)

Has cancer screening been oversold? Cancer Council responds

October 22, 2009 – 6:56 pm

The New York Times, as previously mentioned, is reporting a shift in screening policy at the the American Cancer Society, which is now saying that the benefits of early detection of  many cancers, especially breast and prostate, have been “overstated”.
“We don’t want people to panic,” Dr Otis Brawley, the Society’s chief medical officer told the [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in cancer, consumer health information, screening | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Has medical journalism sold its soul?

October 21, 2009 – 7:17 pm

That’s the title of an opinion piece that an American professor of medicine, Nortin Hadler, has written for ABC News in the US.
Hadler argues that “health journalism is more beleaguered than most other specialties by the financial crunch that faces the entire Fourth Estate”, and is particularly alarmed by the influence of sophisticated medical marketing [...]

By Croakey | Tagged | Comments (3)

Did your doctor, nurse or pharmacist get paid to give talks for Merck?

October 21, 2009 – 9:19 am

If you lived in the US, you’d know.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Merck has just released its list of payments to doctors for giving talks at promotional events. The list also includes some nurses, pharmacists and scientists.
The payments range from $150 to more than $20,000.
The paper reports that many drug companies are moving to [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in health & medical marketing, nurses and nursing, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Can we PLEASE kill off Nanny? Now?

October 20, 2009 – 4:26 pm

Yesterday there was some debate in the House of Reps on the Government’s plans to establish the Australian National Preventive Health Agency, and we will be hearing more anon. You can download the Bill here.
The advent of the Agency presents another predictable opportunity for a predictably boring debate about the “nanny state”, as per this [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in prevention, public health, tobacco control | Comments (2)

Fear and loathing at Katoomba Hospital

October 16, 2009 – 1:40 pm

As mentioned previously, some staff at Katoomba Hospital in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney have set up an anonymous blog to draw public attention to concerns that they’re not allowed to raise in public.
Not surprisingly, the heavies are cracking down. Here is a brief report from the “who will speak for us” group:
“Things have [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in Hospitals | Comments (0)

Health stars at world’s biggest blogging meet..and other bits and pieces

October 16, 2009 – 12:01 pm

As we speak, bloggers are gathering in Las Vegas for the Blog World New Media Expo, billed as “the world’s largest blogging and new media conference”. There are several sessions on health and new media.
I came across this event while doing some research recently on new media and health, which also led me to some [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in global health, health and medical research | Comments (2)

Where does the TGA stand on Pfizer campaign?

October 13, 2009 – 9:04 pm

As mentioned recently, Pfizer is hitting the consumer and medical media in the interests of its combination heart pill, Caduet.
Regular readers may remember that earlier this year Michele Kosky, executive director of the Health Consumers’ Council in WA, asked the TGA and Medicines Australia to investigate whether the consumer advertisement breaches the ban on direct-to-consumer [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in TGA, adverse events, consumer health information, health & medical marketing | Tagged , , , , | Comments (3)

The real safety issues in maternity care: a sneak preview

October 12, 2009 – 8:45 am

Maternity care provides a classic example of the pitfalls of a specialist-driven model of practice in health care. It results in more expensive and interventionist care, rather than a community-based approach which could also help ensure a more equitable distribution of services. It has led us to talk about obstetrics, which implies a focus on [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in childbirth and maternity services, evidence-based issues, health reform | Tagged , , | Comments (6)

Hospital staff harness new media for public protest

October 9, 2009 – 12:37 pm

The staff at Katoomba Hospital (in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney) – or at least some of them – have clearly had enough. In the cyberworld equivalent of taking to the streets, they’ve launched an anonymous blog to tell the public what their bosses won’t let them speak about in public.
You could see it [...]

By Croakey | Also posted in Hospitals, consumer health information | Comments (5)