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Problem In Health News Stories: Therapeutic Misconception

September 3rd, 2011 by in Opinion
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A story in the San Diego Union-Tribune describes testing of “an experimental therapeutic filtering device being developed.”

Think about it. It hasn’t been proven therapeutic yet if it’s still experimental.

Lawyers use a term, “therapeutic misconception,” which is important for everyone to know about and think about. It refers to study participants perhaps having the misconception that the purpose of the trial is, indeed, therapeutic – when that hasn’t been established yet.

I see news stories commit this error all the time. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*

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