Prepare a 1,000-1,200 word essay in which you look at how today’s news media inf
ID: 127525 • Letter: P
Question
Prepare a 1,000-1,200 word essay in which you look at how today’s news media influences or affects your future career. A properly prepared essay must contain a statement of your purpose [thesis], an introduction, a body/development, a conclusion, and a bibliography* (which must contain a minimum of 3 sources at least 2 library/database [EbscoHost, ProQuest, etc.], and 1 credible internet sources [.gov, .org, .edu] ~ WIKIPEDIA IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE RESOURCE. *Students may use MLA, APA, or footnotes to document their sources. Also, adhere to essay formatting ~ title page or heading, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1” margins
Considering your topic: “How does medical news influence the medical or health care industry?”
Explanation / Answer
INTRODUCTION:
News or rumours of malpractice for a medical practice or hospital can be a turnoff for potential patients, making them reluctant to seek help. Concerns regarding negligence can make patients nervous and impede a trustworthy and open interaction the cornerstone of doctor-patient relationships
Whether they realize it or not, journalists reporting on health care developments deliver public health messages that can influence the behavior of clinicians and patients. Often these messages are delivered effectively by seasoned reporters who perform thoughtfully even in the face of breaking news and tight deadlines. But all too frequently, what is conveyed about health by many other journalists is wrong or misleading. Some distortion is attributable to ignorance or an inability to interpret and convey the nuanced results of clinical studies.
MEDIA NEWS IMPACTS ON HEALTHCARE:
I believe that when journalists ignore complexities or fail to provide context, the public health messages they convey are inevitably inadequate or distorted. The news media need to become more knowledgeable and to embrace more fully our role in delivering to the public accurate, complete, and balanced messages about health. With some additional skills, care, and introspection and a change in priorities we can produce coverage more in line with our responsibilities.
Some health care journalists will say their paramount role is to report the “news” strictly speaking, that which is new. These journalists tend to cover the findings of a new clinical study without much, if any, reference to previous relevant studies. For example, in 2006, multiple news reports on the Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification trial concluded that a “low-fat” diet (in which fat accounted for 20% of calories) produced no benefit in terms of reduced rates of disease in women.1 Given the trial results, this was an inaccurate interpretation to begin with: breast cancer rates were 22% lower among women with sharply reduced fat intake than in the comparison group. Perhaps more problematically, almost no news story about this trial made reference to findings first reported in 2005 from the Women's Intervention Nutrition Study, which clearly showed that a low-fat diet reduced the risk of recurrent breast cancer among women who previously had the disease.2 Apparently, that study was no longer relevant by 2006, although it focused on the same topic. The “new” public health message for women was that dietary fat didn't especially matter.
A decade's worth of unprecedented drug recalls and other worrisome developments in drug safety or efficacy have appropriately pushed many journalists into aggressive coverage of pharmaceutical issues. Much of this reporting has been important investigative journalism yielding many benefits, including increased transparency and timeliness in reporting clinical trial results. The downside of the drumbeat of coverage, however, is the implicit message communicated to the public that many drugs on the market are neither safe nor effective and that federal drug-safety regulators are generally incompetent.
CONCLUSION:
Although the primary responsibility for improving health-related journalism must lie with journalists, clinicians and researchers can help. When interviewed by journalists about a news development, such as a new study, they should offer to discuss the broader context, point reporters to any similar or contradictory studies, refer journalists to credible colleagues with differing perspectives, and mention any study limitations or caveats about the results, as well as any potential or real conflicts of interest among the study authors. It will take many expert hands to ensure that the health news the public reads really is fit to print.
SOURCE INFORMATION
Ms. Dentzer is the editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, Bethesda, MD, and an on-air analyst on health policy for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on the Public Broadcasting Service.
https://online.tamucc.edu/articles/malpractice-and-its-effects-on-the-healthcare-industry.aspx