Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 Articles
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Members & Subscribers
    • Benefits for CMA Members
    • CPD Credits for Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription Prices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Pinterest
  • Follow CMAJ on Youtube
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
Research

Drugs in the news: an analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of new prescription drugs

Alan Cassels, Merrilee A. Hughes, Carol Cole, Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin and James P. McCormack
CMAJ April 29, 2003 168 (9) 1133-1137;
Alan Cassels
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Merrilee A. Hughes
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Carol Cole
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Barbara Mintzes
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Joel Lexchin
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
James P. McCormack
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Tables
  • Related Content
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Background: Patients routinely cite the media, after physicians and pharmacists, as a key source of information on new drugs, but there has been little research on the quality of drug information presented. We assessed newspaper descriptions of drug benefits and harms, the nature of the effects described and the presence or absence of other important information that can add context and balance to a report about a new drug.

Methods: We looked at newspaper coverage in the year 2000 of 5 prescription drugs launched in Canada between 1996 and 2001 that received a high degree of media attention: atorvastatin, celecoxib, donepezil, oseltamivir and raloxifene. We searched 24 of Canada's largest daily newspapers for articles reporting at least one benefit or harm of any of these 5 drugs. We recorded the benefits and harms reported and analyzed how such information was presented; we also determined whether clinical or surrogate outcomes were mentioned; if and how drug effects were quantified; whether contraindications, other treatment options and costs were mentioned; and whether any information on affiliations of quoted interviewees and potential conflicts of interest was presented.

Results: Our search yielded 193 articles reporting at least one benefit or harm for 1 of the 5 drugs. All of the articles mentioned at least one benefit, but 68% (132/193) made no mention of possible side effects or harms. Only 24% (120/510) of mentions of drug benefits and harms presented quantitative information. In 26% (31/120) of cases in which drug benefits and harms were quantified, the magnitude was presented only in relative terms, which can be misleading. Overall, 62% (119/193) of the articles gave no quantification of the benefits or harms. Thirty-seven (19%) of the 193 articles reported only surrogate benefits. Other information needed for informed drug-related decisions was often lacking: only 7 (4%) of the articles mentioned contraindications, 61 (32%) mentioned drug costs, 89 (46%) mentioned drug alternatives, and 30 (16%) mentioned nondrug treatment options (such as exercise or diet). Sixty-two percent (120/193) of the articles quoted at least one interviewee. After exclusion of industry and government spokespeople, for only 3% (5/164) of interviewees was there any mention of potential financial conflicts of interest. Twenty-six percent (15/57) of the articles discussing a study included information on study funding.

Interpretation: Our results raise concerns about the completeness and quality of media reporting about new medications.

View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

CMAJ
Vol. 168, Issue 9
29 Apr 2003
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Drugs in the news: an analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of new prescription drugs
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Drugs in the news: an analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of new prescription drugs
Alan Cassels, Merrilee A. Hughes, Carol Cole, Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin, James P. McCormack
CMAJ Apr 2003, 168 (9) 1133-1137;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Drugs in the news: an analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage of new prescription drugs
Alan Cassels, Merrilee A. Hughes, Carol Cole, Barbara Mintzes, Joel Lexchin, James P. McCormack
CMAJ Apr 2003, 168 (9) 1133-1137;
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Interpretation
    • Appendix 1
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Tables
  • Related Content
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Highlights of this issue
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • Journalists views on media coverage of medical tests and overdiagnosis: a qualitative study
  • Media Coverage of the Benefits and Harms of Testing the Healthy: a protocol for a descriptive study
  • Canadian French and English newspapers portrayals of physicians role and medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from 1972 to 2016: a qualitative textual analysis
  • Improving coverage of medical research in a changing media environment
  • Representations of the health value of vitamin D supplementation in newspapers: media content analysis
  • Televised medical talk shows--what they recommend and the evidence to support their recommendations: a prospective observational study
  • Preventing bad reporting on health research
  • Bevacizumab for Advanced Breast Cancer: Hope, Hype, and Hundreds of Headlines
  • Naming names: is there an (unbiased) doctor in the house?
  • Do the print media "hype" genetic research? A comparison of newspaper stories and peer-reviewed research papers
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Booster vaccination with inactivated whole-virus or mRNA vaccines and COVID-19–related deaths among people with multimorbidity: a cohort study
  • Association between virtual primary care and emergency department use during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada
  • Survival and health care costs after inpatient elective surgery: comparison of patients with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Show more Research

Similar Articles

Collections

  • Topics
    • Health technology
    • Pharmacology & toxicology
    • Public health

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
  • Accessibiity
  • CMA Civility Standards
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: cmajgroup@cmaj.ca

Powered by HighWire