HealthNewsReview.org
Journalist Toolkit
Tips for Understanding Studies
- Covering Medical Research
- Does the Language Fit the Evidence?- Association Versus Causation
- “off-label” Drug Use and Marketing
- 7 words (and more) You Shouldn’t Use in Medical News
- News from Scientific Meetings
- Absolute versus Relative Risk
- Number Needed to Treat (NNT)
- Commercialism
- Single Source Stories
- FDA Approval Not Guaranteed
- Phases of Drug trials
- Medical Devices
- Animal and Lab studies
http://www.healthnewsreview.org/tips-for-understanding-studies.php
Their Criteria for What Consumers need in Stories on Treatments, tests, products, procedures:
- What’s the total cost?
- How often do benefits occur?
- How often do harms occur?
- How strong is the evidence?
- Is this condition exaggerated?
- Are there alternative options?
- Is this really a new approach?
- Is it available to me?
- Who’s promoting this?
- Do they have a conflict of interest?
