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…
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