What's a Few IQ Points Between Sisters?

Just because you can measure that something is different doesn't necessarily mean that you've learned anything meaningful. That's my take on the latest study that purports to show that, as a group, first-born children tend to have a slightly higher IQ or intelligence quotient than their younger siblings. The IQ difference, reported in the research journal Science, was only 2.3 points (where 100

Drug-Resistant Bugs Much More Common

Antibiotic-resistant infections are ten times more common than previously thought, according to a new study from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (Chicago Tribune). And you don't have to be an inmate in a jail or a hospital patient to be at risk. Although jails and hospitals have been hot spots in the past, dangerous super bugs like methicillin-resistant

More Sloppy Headlines on Parkinson's Disease

What's wrong with these headlines--one from HealthDay News and the other from ABC News Radio?First Gene Therapy Trial Effective Against Parkinson's and New Parkinson's TreatmentA reasonable person would conclude that there's a new treatment involving gene therapy for Parkinson's disease. In fact, the study in question, which was just published in the research journal Lancet, was not even designed

Incarcerex Spoof Parodies Drug Ads

Nothing like a parody to highlight the very stylized way pharmaceutical advertising evokes our anxieties. Whatever you think of the war on drugs, this video spoof touting the made-up drug Incarcerex nails the images and tones commonly used to hook consumers.Want more? Check out last year's video on "motivational deficiency disorder" from Australia. A clever spoof that's almost too subtle about

Consider the Source

Why do scientists hate journalists so much? They're counting the ways over at Tara Smith's Aetiology blog. She definitely struck a nerve with her post asking fellow academics how they handle press requests. Lots of vitriol in the responses, especially about being misquoted (understandable) and a strong belief that journalists mostly stand in the way of good communications.I have a quibble or two

Condom Ads Don't Fly at CBS, Fox

Check out trojanevolve.com for the condom commercial that Fox and CBS think is too unseemly for your innocent eyes and ears. Although both networks had previously accepted ads that highlighted a condom's ability to prevent the transmission of the AIDS virus, according to The New York Times, they balked at airing a commercial that focused on a condom's ability to prevent pregnancy.Okay, so the

Vaccines, Autism and Conflicts of Interest

The Boston Globe was far too subtle in disclosing Paul Offit's conflict of interest in a recent op-ed piece about vaccines, according to Ed Silverman, a New Jersey journalist who blogs about the pharmaceutical industry at Pharmalot. The Globe described Offit as the inventor of a particular vaccine but didn't make it crystal clear that as such, he would stand to lose financially if an upcoming