I spoke to the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund (NBCCF) this weekend as part of a panel trying to answer the question, "Do media get the breast cancer story right?"
I came away convinced that some breast cancer advocates scrutinize claims made about progress in breast cancer better than many journalists.
For example, NBCCF president Fran Visco reminded the crowd that her group pointed out the flaws in the design of the STAR trial (comparing raloxifene with tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer in high-risk postmenopausal women). She asked why the government (and journalists) rushed to release the early trial results before they were published and peer-reviewed. She asked, "Is this great news for women?" And then she answered herself by saying that no one can know because all the data haven't been reviewed.
Breast cancer survivor and author Musa Mayer also addressed the conference, recalling how, in the past, she "swallowed the hype" of many news stories "only to end up disillusioned." She recalls feeling "lied to, jerked around." She reminded listeners that "hoping is not the same as knowing...we assume success is more likely than not...we can't afford to keep adding expensive new drugs with only modest benefits."
There are many lessons that journalists and the general public could learn from these breast cancer survivors about how to demand evidence and validation.
Posted by schwitz at May 1, 2006 08:13 AM | TrackBack