How to Critically Review Internet Health News

Many people (including some of my readers) probably get a lot of health information from the Internet. And a lot of it is bad information. Gary Schwitzer, publisher of the HealthNewsReviews.org website, has developed a list of criteria that the cautious reader should be able to apply before accepting or rejecting information provided in a media news source.  I’ve taken the liberty of abbreviating his criteria, and I’m giving my short version here.     

1. How available is the treatment to the reader, now or when?
2. What’s the cost – more or less than existing therapy?
3. Is there evidence of disease mongering in the story?
4. Does the article oversell/exaggerate a condition, or create unwarranted fear?
5. Does the article reference evidence to support the findings?
6. Does the article describe potential harms of the treatment? 
7. Does the article establish the true novelty of the approach?
8. How does the new treatment compare with available treatments?
9. Was the source a press release, a congress report, or a refereed journal?
10. Does the article provide other-sourced information about the treatment?

I can’t claim that my blogs meet more than a few of these criteria, but I’m working on it.  There’s a lot of junk information on the Internet (and on TV!) and we shouldn’t add to it, but replace it with something better.  These criteria are a good starting point.