Keeping an Eye on Health News

A national task force yesterday found that, in many cases, searching for prostate cancer in men ages 75 and older was causing more harm than good, and recommended that doctors stop screening for the disease in that group.

The story has made a big splash – it’s the top e-mailed story on The New York Times website right now. And it points to a growing interest among the public for reliable health news.

Whether it’s a discussion on the nutritional benefits of beets and cabbage, debunking health claims of consumer products, or reviews of new drugs to treat obesity, depression, or Alzheimer’s, people are looking for ways to filter out the hype and find health coverage they can count on.

That’s where Gary Schwitzer comes in. He launched a watchdog site called HealthNewsReview.org in 2006. In two years the site has ranked over 600 print, TV and radio reports on health and medical issues. He also directs the Master’s program in Health Journalism at the University of Minnesota. Gary joins Word of Mouth with more on the types of health stories that deserve careful scrutiny.

(Photo by Kenneth Lee)