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Biomedical subjects

R Moynihan

Publications and source records attributed to R Moynihan.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Coverage by the news media of the benefits and risks of medications.

BACKGROUND: The news media are an important source of information about new medical treatments, but there is concern that some coverage may be inaccurate and overly enthusiastic. METHODS: We studied coverage by U.S. news media of the benefits and risks of three medications that are used to prevent major diseases. The medications were pravastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug for the prevention of cardiovascular disease; alendronate, a bisphosphonate for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis; and aspirin, which is used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. We analyzed a systematic probability sample of 180 newspaper articles (60 for each drug) and 27 television reports that appeared between 1994 and 1998. RESULTS: Of the 207 stories, 83 (40 percent) did not report benefits quantitatively. Of the 124 that did, 103 (83 percent) reported relative benefits only, 3 (2 percent) absolute benefits only, and 18 (15 percent) both absolute and relative benefits. Of the 207 stories, 98 (47 percent) mentioned potential harm to patients, and only 63 (30 percent) mentioned costs. Of the 170 stories citing an expert or a scientific study, 85 (50 percent) cited at least one expert or study with a financial tie to a manufacturer of the drug that had been disclosed in the scientific literature. These ties were disclosed in only 33 (39 percent) of the 85 stories. CONCLUSIONS: News-media stories about medications may include inadequate or incomplete information about the benefits, risks, and costs of the drugs as well as the financial ties between study groups or experts and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Alendronate↗
PubMed1999

Infants undergoing pyloromyotomy are not at risk for postoperative apnea. Staff of Sutter Community Hospitals Sleep Disorders Center.

Thirty term infants undergoing general anesthesia and pyloromyotomy had pre- and postoperative sleep studies to determine whether these infants were at risk for postoperative apnea. Sleep studies showed an improved respiratory disturbance index (RDI) after surgery. Postoperatively, apnea indices were lower and lowest oxygen saturation values were increased compared to the infants' preoperative status. We conclude that pyloromyotomy does not elicit postoperative apnea in term infants.

Anesthesia, General↗
PubMed1992

Psychosocial adjustment of children with a terminally ill parent.

Although a substantial number of children experience serious parental illness and death, the adjustment problems attendant to the stress of having a fatally ill parent have not been examined systematically. This paper compares the psychosocial adjustment of 62 school-aged children with a terminally ill parent (study sample) with that of children in a community sample, using several standard rating scales. Study children had significantly higher levels of self-reported depression (Children's Depression Inventory) and anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and lower self-esteem (Self-Esteem Inventory). Parents also reported study children's significantly higher behavior problems and lower social competence (Child Behavior Checklist). Increased professional attention to this vulnerable population is encouraged.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

AIDS and terminal illness.

The authors discuss the specific social and psychological tasks that confront individuals who are dying with AIDS. The young age of the patient, the nature of the disease process, and the social context in which the death occurs profoundly affect the patients' experience.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Medicine, the media and monetary interests: the need for transparency and professionalism.

Emerging evidence suggests that media coverage of medicine is increasingly promotional in nature. Recent Australian examples include misleading newspaper articles on an experimental cancer vaccine and a high profile television current affairs segment on a new influenza drug, which failed to disclose the industry ties of a key expert featured in the report. There are widening concerns that this problem in medical journalism may be exacerbated by the growing commercialisation of medical and scientific research, and the increasing ties between researchers, doctors and pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies. Closer links between industry and medicine are being explicitly encouraged both in academia and the health care sector for the mutual benefits they bring. However, these partnerships are the cause of growing unease within medicine. In the United States, rigorous legislation governing research protocols is being proposed, and in Australia new ethical guidelines covering industry-profession relationships are being promulgated. If one of the media's roles is informing the community about the business of health and medicine in a fair and accurate way, a cultural change in medical journalism is required.

Australia↗