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Archives | (December 2001)
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Media Malpractice
------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 1 of 4 Americans have embraced non-traditional medicine with an enthusiasm that is impossible to deny. In 1997 alone, U.S. health consumers spent some $27 billion on a wide range of non-traditional medical services -- an amount exceeding all out-of-pocket expenditures for hospitalizations that year. The growing competition from non-traditional practitioners has not been lost on "Big Medicine." In recent years, there has been a mounting crescendo of criticism and complaint from orthodox physicians who fear that the growing interest in alternatives is threatening their bottom line. What is perhaps most surprising, however, is that among "Big Medicine's" most important allies are the national media. As the 77 million members of the "Baby Boom" have reached middle age, the media have given increasing amounts of attention to health-related stories. This increase in coverage, however, has not been accompanied by a corresponding increasing in understanding and accuracy. Indeed, more often than not, reporting on health topics has amounted to little more than a repetition of press releases from pharmaceutical companies, medical associations and other interested parties. This unquestioning attitude, however, has not extended to non-traditional medicine. Worse, in many instances, media reporting on non-traditional medicine is not merely superficial, it is blatantly biased in favor of medical orthodoxy. |
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