Provide names of other journalists involved.
Beryl Lieff Benderly
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
January-February 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Through the work and experience of Perry Cohen, Ph.D., a health evaluation expert who has Parkinson’s disease and in the past decade has become an international advocate for improved treatment of the disease, “Head Games” critiques the clinical trial model currently used in the United States to test experimental Parkinson’s treatments. Because of advances in the understanding of the placebo effect in people with Parkinson’s, Cohen and others believe that the traditional and widely used “gold standard” placebo-controlled clinical trial cannot effectively evaluate experimental Parkinson’s treatments. He and others, including researchers in Europe, argue that the trial design used up to now in the United States has needlessly rejected effective treatments. They recommend more dynamic clinical trial designs that incorporate the new knowledge of the placebo effect in Parkinson’s as a far more effective way to advance research on new treatments.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Scientific articles, organizational websites, and video recordings of an NIH conference.
Explain types of human sources used.
Extensive interviews with Cohen, my primary source,and checking with other experts.
Results:
When the story appeared, I was interviewed on two NPR programs, the Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC in New York and The Afternoon Shift on WBEZ in Chicago.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Be sure to have a clear understanding of relevant scientific literature.