Author's posts
Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better
Most new cancer treatments haven’t been proven to help patients live longer or feel better. Instead, they delay the growth of tumors — which may be faster to measure but doesn’t necessarily indicate a tangible benefit for patients. But you wouldn’t gra…
Beware the hidden agenda of free hernia screenings
Some hospitals are trying a curious new tactic to attract patients: free hernia screenings. One Illinois hospital raffled off tickets for a smart speaker to entice people to get their abdomens checked by a surgeon, while an Indiana hospital offered a c…
When medical experts say “first,” be careful
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 for being first might not amount to a c…
How mundane health findings can be prettied up with PR magic
As all researchers know, science is a grinding parade of failure and dead ends. But as we’ve often written, news release writers sometimes seem hell-bent on making the public believe otherwise. Like expert makeup artists, they can add sparkle to lacklu…
