The Rush to Publish
Researches need to think about the way the media will misinterpret their results. The Women's Health Initiative inital findings came out with all kinds of media hoopla about the dangers of hormone therapy. Now as time passes analysts have taken a closer look at the data, [see: JAMA. 2007;297:1465-1477.] paticularly at how women were recruited into the study. They discovered many biases and confounders not evident in the first rush to publication. Now it appears that many women can benefit from a tailored course of hormones at menopause and that wholesale declarations of their hazards were overdone by a media wanting sensationalism. We have seen the same problem with IUDs aand breast implants among other issues,