Table 1.
Results from review of 1,854 health news stories by HealthNewsReview.org
| Criterion | No. of satisfactory scores | No. of unsatisfactory scores | No. of not applicable (N/A) scores | Percentage of satisfactory scores (total minus N/A) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costs | 476 | 1,087 | 291 | 30% |
| Benefits | 623 | 1,204 | 27 | 34% |
| Harms | 626 | 1,158 | 70 | 35% |
| Evidence | 713 | 1,137 | 4 | 39% |
| Disease-mongering | 1,385 | 397 | 72 | 78% |
| Sources/conflict of interest | 1,021 | 829 | 4 | 55% |
| Alternatives | 781 | 1,021 | 52 | 43% |
| Availability | 1,227 | 450 | 177 | 76% |
| Novelty | 1,372 | 381 | 101 | 78% |
| Rely on press release* | 1,329 | 120 | 405 | 92% |
* The criterion asking whether the story appeared to rely solely or largely on a news release requires some explanation. Note the high number of not applicable (N/A) scores. In order to make a judgment on this criterion, reviewers must have a copy of a news release. Because a news release is not always available, many stories are graded N/A. The percentage of satisfactory scores may seem high; another perspective is that the fact that 120 supposedly independently reported stories were found to rely solely or largely on a news release is troubling.