Fix for low sex drive puts reporters in a bad patch

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7477.1294

BMJ 2004;329:1294 (27 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7477.1294

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Fix for low sex drive puts reporters in a bad patch

Stories about the testosterone patch are a case study in misleadingmedia coverage

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

As the debate over the safety of new anti-arthritis drugs rollsaround the world, the gap between marketing messages and scientifictruths becomes clearer by the day. The estimated toll of heartattacks associated with Merck's rofecoxib (Vioxx) mounts; questionsabout other COX 2 inhibitors arise; and the drug companies andregulators are rightly being criticised and investigated. Nowis a good time for rigorous scrutiny of the media's role ininitially boosting this new class of anti-arthritis drugs: therecord will show that many reporters seemed simply to reproducethe marketing hype in their stories.

Yet even while this debacle continues, another case study inmisleading media coverage around the world is fast emerging:many of the articles about the experimental testosterone patchfor women look more like marketing fiction than rigorous journalism.In their search for sexy stories some media outlets are exaggeratingthe benefits of the . . . [Full text of this article]

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Ray Moynihan, visiting editor

BMJ raymond.moynihan@verizon.net