No reason to celebrate cheaper drugs
The Sunday Age reported that sixty commonly prescribed drugs will now be cheaper for patients and that those who take simvastatin to help lower cholesterol will save almost $15 on the drug.
Media and health
The madness of statins– a must read for everyone especially older women
This week The Age reported that cholesterol – lowering drugs increase the risk of diabetes and memory impairment. This is really bad news for around two million Australians who take these medications believing they’ll lower their heart attack risk. While the report is concerning, it is also comforting to know that there is now too much evidence for health authorities to ignore the side effects of statins.
Information overload, emotionally aroused brains and the practice of journalism.
Political scientist Markus Prior claims that “the share of politically uninformed people has risen since we entered the so-called information age”.
Swine flu- what pandemic?
Early this month Nicola Roxon, the federal minister for health declared the swine flu pandemic over leaving millions of doses of the swine flu vaccine laying waste.
Brevity in health reporting
Van Der Weyden and Armstrong , the editors of the Australian Medical Journal claim that “reporting medical news entails a special responsibility”. They believe that journalists are responsible for reporting the facts in an accurate “clear and unambiguous manner”, and stress the need for an understanding of the medical condition being discussed. As they say the public generally trust the health system and deserve better reporting of medical issues.
