Toying with titles

Barbara Sibbald

[The associate editor, news and features, responds:]

Alban Goddard-Hill's points are well taken. He is quite correct in surmising that the News and analysis section does not list competing interests. This section and the Features section contain medical news items written by journalists. If we are aware of conflicts of interests that may call into question the credibility of a source we certainly report them. Likewise, we make every attempt to provide balanced coverage. In the article in question, we also quote from Health Care Without Harm, an organization of 41 groups including Greenpeace and the American Public Health Association, which refutes the claims of the ACSH.

Gerald Ross' comments about the headline are similarly well taken. We attempt to write objective yet enticing titles; sometimes we fail.

Acknowledgments

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