Newspaper series explores sham autism claims

The Chicago Tribune has done some amazing investigative journalism in 2009 about autism treatments, especially ones that might be shams. I eagerly read their first story in May (about treating autism with a chemical castration drug) but didn’t remember to post it here. Recently the reporter did a similar piece emphasizing the many ways that research can be used to support any treatment, even one that the original authors didn’t support.

November story, “Science hijacked to support alternative therapies”: In this story, researchers who found evidence of neuroinflammation during autopsies of autistic brains feared that people might jump to conclusions using their research and push anti-inflammatory drugs before a real connection could be proven. They made sure to write a disclaimer to go with their 2005 journal article, but their work was still taken out of context. One Florida doctor wrote a paper using the original report to recommend treating autism with powerful immune-modifying drugs (specifically intravenous immunoglobulin). However, that report’s primer had specifically emphasized that IVIG “WOULD NOT HAVE a significant effect” on the findings in the brains of people with autism. Others promoting hyperbaric oxygen treatment have also miscited the 2005 paper. The article says one such doctor admits that he “has not done studies to show his protocols work and are safe. He said he doesn’t have time to wait for science to validate the results he and parents see.” It’s frightening to see that some people wouldn’t just “hijack” science to support what they want – they’d ignore it entirely if it didn’t match the image they wanted to convey. http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-autism-science-nov23,0,240420.story

The original May story, “‘Miracle drug’ called junk science”: This story mentions how two doctors have been promoting Lupron as a cure for autism. The drug is sometimes used to chemically castrate sex offenders, but these doctors promote its use based on the theory that children with autism have too much mercury in their blood, combined with excess testosterone (which Lupron decreases). Many doctors call the theory medically baseless. As Simon Baron-Cohen, a psychopathology professor and director of the Autism Research Center at Cambridge, told reporters, “The idea of using it with vulnerable children with autism, who do not have a life-threatening disease and pose no danger to anyone, without a careful trial to determine the unwanted side effects or indeed any benefits, fills me with horror.” I appreciate that the article shows both sides of the issue, such as interviewing parents who feel their children have been helped by Lupron. What really concerns me is one doctor’s seemingly cavalier attitude toward possible long-term effects from the drug. In treating a teen boy, the doctor said he was just concerned with current improvements – “I wasn’t worried about whether he would have children when he is 25 years old.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-autism-lupron-may21,0,242705.story

Autism is such a controversial and complex topic, so it’s great to see in-depth pieces that analyze the validity of newer treatment claims. I’m interested to hear if anyone else has seen good research into the topic lately. Let me know!

Pharma ads get recognized (sort of)

I came across this Slate article recently and found it really interesting: http://www.slate.com/id/2235770/.

The writer seems so surprised to note that “yes, they give awards for pharmaceutical ads.” To which I say, “Of course they do!” The walls of my agency are full of them. Then again, it’s not common knowledge. I’d never known about them before coming to the industry, but there are almost more than you can count: the IN-AWE awards, the Globals, the RX Club Awards, Diagnostic Marketing Awards (DxMA), and the list goes on. The article is correct that this is the first year the Clios have had a separate show just for us. I remember seeing the press release in the summer and mentioning it to my agency (although we didn’t enter). I was at the regular Clios in 2004 as a guest and really enjoyed seeing great ideas being recognized. I think I’d appreciate it even more now after knowing first hand the hard work that goes into making all kinds of ads!

Also related to ads, this Business Week piece (mentioned in the awards article), explains how hard it is for pharmaceutical ads to capture attention when they have to conform to strict regulations and “ask your doctor” rules. In fact, the required listing of side effects and warnings could even be scaring off patients, who often remember a drug’s bad features even more than the brand name: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_46/b4155078964719.htm?campaign_id=yhoo

Helpful hints from work – #17

(The latest in a series of tips from work.)

This week’s tip: lets vs let’s

“Lets” is a verb form of “to let,” meaning to allow or permit.

“Let’s” is a contraction of “let us.”

- The new Yellow Diet lets you eat anything you want, as long as it’s yellow. Tonight for dinner I’m having Funyuns and Twinkies!

- Andy’s mother only lets him watch TV after his homework is finished.

- Let’s go to the movies this weekend. I want to see the sappy one that’s up for an Oscar. (Let us go to the movies.)

- He grumbled, ”Let’s hope the baseball game doesn’t get rained out again tomorrow.” (Let us hope.)

Cat gets swine flu, writers get clever

Last week a house cat in Iowa became the first case of a pet with swine flu. It got a good amount of national news coverage, but what caught me was how different outlets spun the story.

The New York Times had a straightforward take: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/the-cat-who-got-swine-flu/

Time.com tried a funny approach, with a photo of a cat in a flu mask and a silly headline. It’s a great cultural reference (the LOLcat phenomenon of icanhascheezburger.com), but it seemed a bit too light for a medical topic like this. I guess it shows how popular culture is shaping even supposedly serious news coverage:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1934826,00.html

What do you think?

Helpful hints from work – #16

(This is the latest in a series of tips I write for work. This one was specifically requested because people in the office had been confusing the terms.)

This week’s tip: flesh out vs flush out

These words are only one letter apart, but they have very different meanings. These hints can help you pick the right phrase:
“Flesh out” means to give something substance or make it more complete.

- Danny Ocean told his team, “We already agreed on a basic plan of how to rob the casinos, so now let’s flesh out the details.”

- I want to flesh out my collection of windup tin toys. You can never have too many metallic robots and miniature cars!

“Flush out” means to force something/someone into the open, or to eliminate something by the act of flushing.

- The officer deliberately left the keys in his car because he hoped to flush out the local thief who had been stealing police cruisers.

- Jill had to flush out her French horn after her little brother decided to fill it with pudding.

Cool drug words (HIV/virology edition)

My agency works with a company that manufactures tests to determine if a patient’s strain of HIV will be susceptible to certain drugs (antivirals). The drug names mentioned in those virology and diagnostic pieces are huge tongue twisters! I appreciate that so many have underused letters like v and z. The notations in parentheses are the drug abbreviations (which sometimes don’t seem to match the full name at all!).

atazanavir
maraviroc (MVC)
efavirenz (EFV)
emtricitabine (FTC)
nelfinavir
nevirapine
ritonavir
saquinavir/r
darunavir/r
tenofovir
zidovudine (AZT)
zidovudine and lamivudine (CBV)
lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV)
stavudine (D4T)
lamivudine (3TC)
azidothymidine/abacavir sulfate/lamivudine (AZT/ABC/3TC)
abacavir sulfate/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/didanosine (ABC/TDF/ddl)
fosamprenavir/ritonavir

Helpful hints from work – #15

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work.)

This week’s tip: when to use since and because

“Since” and “because” are often used as if they’re interchangeable, but they do have specific meanings. Remember these basic guidelines:

“Since” relates to a period of time.
- George had been a fan of dragons since he was in first grade.
- Since buying a flame-resistant shield, Sir Gallant has felt much safer.

“Because” expresses a reason.
- Because dragons like to kidnap princesses and burn knights, most people think they’re horrible beasts.
- George likes dragon stories because they always contain lots of action.

*Note: This is a very simplified explanation, meant to appeal to people who aren’t writers and who might get confused with nuances between meanings. See the AMA Manual of Style for a more comprehensive explanation, including the difference between because, since, and as.

Helpful hints from work – #14

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work.)

This week’s tip: the difference between farther and further

Use “farther” if you’re talking about something you can measure, like a real distance.
- It’s rainy and the restaurant you mentioned is farther from the office. Let’s just eat taquitos at the 7-Eleven next door.
- It was much farther to drive to New York for a bagel than to get one at the local Jewel, but Janet had a serious craving for lox.

Use “further” if you can’t physically measure something, like an abstract idea or point in time.
- Until further notice, please don’t taunt Dr. Jekyll. We’re afraid he’ll sink further into madness.
- No, kids, you’re not getting a pet alligator. I’ve said no before and we will not discuss this any further.

Weird ingredient names

Health columnists and nutritionists often urge people not to eat foods with ingredients they can’t pronounce. If the same rule applied to medications, we’d be out of luck! Just look at the doozy of a list from our client’s medical device cream for seborrheic dermatitis (and this is just a partial selection — there are other odd-sounding compounds in the mix!).

- isohexadecane
- butyrospermum parkii
- ethylhexyl palmitate
- PEG-30 dipolyhydroxystearate
- bisabolol
- ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate
- glycyrrhetinic acid

Helpful hints from work – #13

(This is the latest in a series of tip e-mails that I pass along at work. We recently launched a blog on our corporate intranet, so my tips will start being featured there about once a month instead of being e-mailed every week or two. Guess with that timing change I’ll just refer to the tips by number from now on.)

The difference between “ie” and “eg”
These abbreviations of Latin phrases are easy to confuse, but here are some pointers.

ie (id est) means “that is.” Use it when rephrasing a sentence, as if you were saying “in other words.”
- He changed cable companies just to get all of the March Madness games, ie, he can’t live without college basketball.

eg (exempli gratia) means “for example.” Think of it as “example given,” which also has the initials eg. Use it when giving possibilities for the term in question.
- I love anything to do with bears, eg, teddy bears, pandas, Chicago football teams.
- Her favorite fruits were red, eg, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, apples.

[Note: My company's internal style is not to use periods with these terms, although you might see them as e.g. or i.e. elsewhere.]