IPSO FACTOID: Of Mice and Men- Sensationalized ‘journalism’ has got it all wrong
Paul | Tuesday, 24 November, 2009
Following all the hoo-ha we’ve seen recently over the cervical cancer vaccination, it was with some interest I noted that the Daily Mail hailed “Cervical cancer wiped out by pioneering use of ‘amazing’ osteoporosis drugs“. Journalist Fiona MacRae went on to excitedly tell us that “Cervical cancer can be destroyed by drugs used to treat breast cancer and osteoporosis, a study suggests. In results described as ‘amazing’ by researchers, one of the treatments eliminated the cancer in 11 out of 13 cases”. It almost sounds too good to be true, and indeed eight paragraphs into the article Ms MacRae mentions that “The initial results come from experiments in mice”. The actual study abstract can be found here.
