Ovarian cancer screening: which story framing to believe?

healthnewsreviews

It also matters whom you choose to interview in the body of the story.  MedPage Today’s first expert quote was more skeptical than those that appeared first in most other stories

Let’s take a brief spin through the choices that news consumers (and patients) can make among a range of stories about a new study on ovarian cancer screening.
Should the emphasis be:

• “Blood test for ovarian cancer saves lives,” as  CBS reported?

• “Early Detection of Ovarian Cancer May Become Possible,” as the New York Times headlined it.  Although it followed with strong cautions:...........

...... What I’ve just outlined is part of the roulette that we play every day in perusing health care news.  Where will the ball land? Which news story will you happen to see?  And how will its framing compare with everything else out there? And while it’s not a game – not when people may make choices based on what they read in the news – the roulette analogy does hold up if people do actually make choices based on what they read in the news.