August 13th, 2010 by GarySchwitzer in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Following Gary Schwitzer’s HealthNewsReview.org August 11th blog post below entitled “American Cancer Society: ‘Only’ A Fundraising Ad, Right?”, the American Cancer Society pulled its “Screening Is Seeing” ad the next day.
See Schwitzer’s follow-up post “Screening Is Seeing” Ad By American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network (ACS-CAN) Is Pulled” and a related article by Mary Carmichael of Newsweek: ”The American Cancer Society’s Misleading New Ads.”
Also see “Common Themes In The Alzheimer’s Test Stories And The Cancer Society Screening Ad” by Schwitzer.
(ORIGINAL POST)
American Cancer Society: “Only” A Fundraising Ad, Right?
A well-intentioned ad campaign run by the American Cancer Society is too vague, and therefore may leave impressions that are imbalanced, incomplete and unsubstantiated — the kind of common tactic seen in many drug company ads. That’s my opinion based on my analysis of the ad and based on my reading of the text.
An American Cancer Society news release states:
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is launching a new print and online advertising campaign in congressional districts across the country this week, urging lawmakers to fully fund a lifesaving cancer prevention, early detection and diagnostic program that is celebrating 20 years of screening low income, uninsured, and medically underserved women for breast and cervical cancer. The ads also send the message that when it comes to increasing your odds of surviving cancer, access to evidence-based early detection tools is critical.
The ads reference the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), which has a track record of reducing deaths from breast and cervical cancer. The program has provided more than 9 million screening exams to more than 3 million women and diagnosed more than 40,000 cases of breast cancer and more than 2,000 cases of cervical cancer since it launched in 1990. But with limited funding, the program is able to serve fewer than 1 in 5 eligible women.
The accomplishments of the CDC NBCCEDP are noteworthy. So this blog entry is no knock on that program. It’s a criticism of the ad. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
April 12th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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The healthcare reform bill is 1,017 pages long and contains a lot that will impact Americans. I’m one who believes we had to come into the 21st century and join the rest of the civilized nations in beginning to provide healthcare to all citizens. You be the judge.
Here are 10 things I bet you didn’t know are in the new healthcare reform bill:
- Menu labeling. Restaurants with over 20 employees must include calorie counts and other nutrition information on their menus.
- SWAG reporting. Doctors must report valuable goodies they receive from health vendors.
- Right to pump. New moms must be given space and time to pump breast milk (for employers with over 50 employees).
- Research. The bill includes research for postpartum depression.
- Tan tax. There’s a 10 percent tax on tanning booths.
- Adoption credit. Adoptive parents receive tax credits to encourage adoption.
- More research. The bill includes research for Indian health studies.
- Safety. The bill includes required background checks for long-term care workers.
- Right wing. The bill includes required abstinence education.
- Transparency. Employers must show employer and employee contributions for healthcare on W-2 forms.
Fox News (“fair and balanced”) has said that it’s “what you don’t know that can hurt you.” Fox also said that “42 percent of doctors said they would quit or retire if healthcare reform became law.” It’s time to stop the fear mongering, lies and deception and understand just what this reform will and won’t do for the American public.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
December 21st, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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Just when you thought it was safe…now there is another article in the NewYorkTimes about the pharmaceutical industry pushing hormones for post menopausal women. It is a long and somewhat “shocking” article about how women have been sold a bill of goods regarding estrogen and progesterone after menopause and Wyeth Pharmaceutical paying multimillion dollar claims for women who took hormones and developed breast cancer.
Let me say…don’t believe everything you read. As readers of EverythingHealth know, I am not a shill for big Pharma and have written critiques of their corporate tactics many times. But when it comes to Estrogen replacement it isn’t just doctors and Pharma pushing drugs on unsuspecting women.
The link between breast cancer and endometrial cancer and estrogen (ERT) has been open dialog for decades. The pharmaceutical companies have had it listed in their marketing literature and good physicians make it part of the risk/benefit discussion. I have never felt pushed to prescribe ERT when it was not indicated and good evidence remains about the benefits of female hormones for bone strength and symptom control. Patients should know that for every 10,000 women who take estrogen, 8 more cases of breast cancer are seen. Other factors influence breast cancer like smoking, radiation (excessive chest X-rays, cat scans or mammograms), alcohol etc etc etc. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
