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Doctor

Australia

"Study helps ease joint pain"

Source: ABC News Online

Published: 25 Aug 2012

Category: Pharmaceutical

Rating: (1 stars)

Keywords: osteoarthritis treatment

what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

A Hobart researcher has developed three new treatments for osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis.

The original article can be found at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-24/new-ways-to-ease-joint-pain/4220798

how did it rate? (more information)

Criteria	Rating
Total Score	1 of 9
Novelty of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Availability of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Treatment Options	Not Satisfactory (?)
Disease Mongering	Satisfactory (?)
Evidence	Not Satisfactory (?)
Quantification of Benefits of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Harms of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Costs of Treatment	Not Satisfactory (?)
Sources of Information	Not Satisfactory (?)
Relies on Press Release	Not Applicable

what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This story is remarkable for what it does not tell the reader!

Questions we'd like answered include:

What was in "the drip"?
What kind of trials were they and how many people took part?
What was in the "herbal ceam"?
How much did it "(reduce) pain and (slow) down the disease"?
What proportion of people responded to the infusion?
How long did the effects last?
What were the side effects?

These omissions make for a pretty poor story that is crowned by an opening paragraph which states the researcher has "developed three new treatments for osteoarthritis" when in fact he has developed just one.

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