In our series of posts on the miracle MAB Lecanemab, we showed who was behind the hype -
Pharma are using organisations like the US Alzheimer’s Association to make the case for the use of their products. And its influence is pervasive and ubiquitous:
A strange half-study from the mega journal JAMA recently looked at the content and funding of 107 websites for awareness campaigns such as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The website selection criterion was being “recognized by major noncommercial institutions.” The authors chose US government branches, WHO, and Cochrane.
As you would expect, the content mainly focused on the three main points of marketing: the condition is common and serious, the benefits of Zum Zum water are great, and the harms were not mentioned or underplayed.
The authors deserve a big pat on the back for that. So why did we call it a “strange half-study”?
First, the publication was a research letter, so the authors were probably forced to shed a lot of detail.
However, the identification of who was behind the campaigns was vague in the text: “Evidence of commercial involvement was found on 73% of campaign websites (78/107), but only 37% (29/78) showed this clearly (Table)”. Do not rush to look at the Table there is not a lot more information there.
No additional files are available from the JAMA website but more information including the protocol is available here.
We need to know, for example, who WHO (sorry for the alliteration) and the US government are approving and who is behind it. Given the recent performance of the WHO and the CDC, this seems essential.
There’s one more strange thing. When we joined Cochrane, the organisation was set up to produce Cochrane reviews, not to approve this, that, and the other awareness campaigns. We would also need to know who is behind the 17 campaigns approved by Cochrane (which are not listed in the piece, perhaps due to a lack of space).
Last but not least, two of the piece's authors are two of the co-authors of the infamous editorial undermining the Cochrane raison d'être and principles and the 2020 version of the A122 review (Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses).
Remember, sentences such as “Public health officials must, instead, take measured gambles based on circumstantial evidence from the reviewed studies and other sources” were designed to cover the publication of “rapid reviews,” which included models and observational studies. We all know what happened when WHO took measured gambles instead of generating good-quality evidence.
This post was written by two old geezers who do not know what to make of the irresponsible behaviour of Cochrane and some of its conductors.
Reading
Johansson M, Albarqouni L, O’Keeffe M, Jørgensen KJ, Woloshin S. Website Content and Funding of Officially Recognized Disease Awareness Campaigns. JAMA. 2024;332(7):589–592. doi:10.1001/jama.2024.12267
Soares‐Weiser K, Lasserson T, Jorgensen KJ, Woloshin S, Bero L, Brown MD, Fischhoff B. Policy makers must act on incomplete evidence in responding to COVID‐19. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020, Issue 11. Art. No.: ED000149. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.ED000149.
I think this sentence ought to be quoted as many times as possible:
"“Public health officials must, instead, take measured gambles based on circumstantial evidence from the reviewed studies and other sources”"
It explains why 'public health officials' feel free to gamble with our health, hiding behind 'Teh Science' and using 'circumstantial evidence ... form 'other' sources'. Well, we can guess what these 'other sources' are.
Btw - have you heard of the latest money spinner? Check out the RSV Vaccine campaign from the NHS ... but be certain to remove all cups and glasses with liquid from the vicinity of your PC ...
"We all know what happened when WHO took measured gambles instead of generating good-quality evidence."
Yup.
Kerchink!
A mighty swelling in the bank account department, thanks to increasing the control over the plebs by our Beloved Uniparty Leaders and their Globalist Billionaire chums.