Tag Archives: medical journals

Study: Good press releases contribute to good health journalism

Leave a reply

Thanks to Gary Schwitzer for drawing attention to a study, published in BMJ, which analyzes the impact medical journal press releases have on actual press coverage of studies.

The authors begin with a somewhat gratifying hypothesis, writing that “Although it is easy to blame journalists for poor quality reporting, problems with coverage could begin with the journalists’ sources,” and positing that difficult-to-decipher studies and misleading press releases could lead to low-caliber health reporting.

They looked at 100 studies from five major journals, as well as a sample of 348 news stories based on those studies. In general they found that higher-quality press releases led to higher-quality coverage. Unfortunately, they also found that the inverse was true. Here’s an excerpt from the “Discussion” subheading (also highlighted by Schwitzer).

…Higher quality press releases issued by medical journals were associated with higher quality reporting in subsequent newspaper stories. In fact, the influence of press releases on subsequent newspaper stories was generally stronger than that of journal abstracts. Fundamental information such as absolute risks, harms, and limitations was more likely to be reported in newspaper stories when this information appeared in a medical journal press release than when it was missing from the press release or if no press release was issued. Furthermore, our data suggest that poor quality press releases were worse than no press release being issued: fundamental information was less likely to be reported in newspaper stories when it was missing from the press release than where no press release was issued at all.

Reporters looking for a Health News Review-style “how do I ensure my story clears their quality bar?” checklist can just scroll down to the “Quality Assessment” subheading. For the record, the metrics found there apply equally well to the PR professionals who write the releases.

Andrew Van Dam of The Wall Street Journal previously worked at the AHCJ offices while earning his master’s degree at the Missouri School of Journalism.

PLoS Medicine article advocates using legal system to stem ghostwriting

Leave a reply

An essay published by PLoS Medicine makes the case that the “guest” authors of ghostwritten articles – typically academic researchers who provide little or no input – in medical journals should be held legally liable for damages or deaths caused by the drug or device that is the subject of articles they sign their names to.

The article points out that ghostwriting “openly infringes academic standards and … contributes to fraud” but that journal editors have been ineffective at putting a stop to it.

We argue that when an injured patient’s physician directly or indirectly relied upon a journal article containing false/manipulated safety and efficacy data, then pursuant to the legal authority outlined above, the authors of that article, including guest authors, are legally liable for patient injuries and could be named as defendants.

Xavier Bosch, Bijan Esfandiari and Leemon McHenry, authors of the PLoS Medicine piece, even endorse the theory that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) could be used, something that was mentioned in an article last year. Other recourses the authors recommend include the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute.

Pia Christensen (@AHCJ_Pia) is the managing editor/online services for AHCJ. She manages the content and development of healthjournalism.org, coordinates AHCJ's social media efforts and edits and manages production of association guides, programs and newsletters.

Ghost authorship waning in top journals

Leave a reply

On the academic publishing blog The Scholarly Kitchen, Phil Davis writes about the recent BMJ study indicating that ghost authorship in top medical journals may be on the wane.

The paper’s authors reviewed data from 2008, then compared it to the results of a previous study conducted in 1996. Davis summarizes their findings.

In 2008, self-reports of ghost authorship was 7.9%, down from 11.5% in 1996. In comparison, rates of honorary authorship remained statistically similar over time (17.6% in 2008 versus 19.3% in 1996). Prevalence of honorary authorship in research articles was higher in 2008 than in 1996, but lower for review articles and editorials.

Surprisingly, journals that require authors to detail their contributions showed no difference from journals without such author requirements.

Honorary authorship is the practice of granting authorship to often-powerful individuals (deans and the like) who may not have had a direct role in the study.

While the results may appear encouraging, Davis does provide a cautionary note.

While this study was beautifully and rigorously executed — with a response rate of over 70% — the researchers acknowledge that respondents may not be forthright with reporting inappropriate authorship practices, especially considering the social stigma against ghost authorship. Indeed, a study of members of the American Medical Writers Association and European Medical Writers Association put the incidence of ghostwriting at 42% for 2008, down from 62% in 2005. If the incidence of ghost writing is truly declining, it still has a long way to go.

Andrew Van Dam of The Wall Street Journal previously worked at the AHCJ offices while earning his master’s degree at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Australian journal says no to pharma ads

1 Reply

Emergency Medicine Australasia, an Australia-based medical journal, has declared that it will no longer accept paid advertisements from pharmaceutical companies.

ozImage by acediscovery via Flickr

The journal’s editors announced their decision in an editorial, and we learned about it from Pharmalot’s Ed Silverman. In the editorial, the editors say they’re drawing a line in the sand and all but dare other publications to join them. Here’s Silverman with the how-and-why:

The ban followed discussions with other emergency medicine specialists, who worried aloud that advertised drugs were supported by evidence that was neither “of reasonable quality, nor independent.” There were cases of “dubious and unethical” research practices by pharma, including ghostwriting. And academics may face pressure to withhold negative research, which could “inflate views of the efficacy” of heavily promoted drugs.

For more, refer to this AAP story. In this case, the acronym refers to the Australian Associated Press, not the physician group. In Australia, medical journals are one of the only places where pharmaceutical advertising is legal.

Andrew Van Dam of The Wall Street Journal previously worked at the AHCJ offices while earning his master’s degree at the Missouri School of Journalism.

Doctors tied to manufacturer report better outcomes, may influence spinal surgery

Leave a reply

After using a FOIA request to obtain documents the Food and Drug Administration had labeled “confidential,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter John Fauber has found that conflicts of interest may have played a role in the outcomes of clinical trials for Medtronic’s much-debated spinal fusion product BMP-2.

In a review of the study’s summary data for the newspaper, researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center found 91 of the 364 patients in the trial – 25% – were implanted by surgeons who had a financial connection with Medtronic. Those doctors reported an 80% overall success rate, compared with 63% for doctors with no ties to the company.

Fauber also notes Medtronic’s response, which was to simply point to comments the company had made for a previous Fauber story.

At the time, [Medtronic spokeswoman Marybeth Thorsgaard] said the company fully disclosed the success rates of the doctors with financial ties to the company to the FDA. She noted that those doctors also had better results with the patients in the trial who did not get BMP-2.

In a companion story Fauber writes that, much like in the clinical trials, the journal articles published to push BMP-2 (and its off-label use) were riddled with conflicts of interest. One of his sources even called one article “egregious” for “blowing off” complications.

Related

Bloomberg’s Peter Waldman and David Armstrong write about the “national boom in costly fusion surgeries” and how “surgeons have prospered from performing fusions, which studies have found to be no better for common back pain than physical therapy is – and a lot more dangerous.” The pair also look at Medtronic’s payments and other ties to doctors who perform the surgery, as well as some of the risks of the surgery.

Andrew Van Dam of The Wall Street Journal previously worked at the AHCJ offices while earning his master’s degree at the Missouri School of Journalism.