Opinion : A \'critical shortage\' of media honesty during an epidemic of hype

Is it too late to avert children dying? There is a "crisis threatening the lives of thousands of American children," according to ABC news. The evening newscast a few nights ago warned about a shortage of leukemia medicine for children.

Telling us that situation is "critical," the anchorman read a report about how hospitals are having trouble finding supplies of a medicine called methotrexate, which is the main treatment for children with A.L.L. (acute lymphoblastic leukemia).

The broadcast featured a family whose child has A.L.L., and whose treatment is nearly ended.

"I am worried," said the ABC "health editor." Other children, he said, "may not be so lucky."

I watched this with some skepticism; after all, it was ABC news that told us about the radiation leak at that nuclear power plant in California a few weeks ago. In that report, they quoted government regulators as saying there was no danger, then spent the next five minutes interviewing an anti-nuclear power scientists about the danger.

(ABC is not alone in spectacular exaggeration in the quest for ratings at 5:30 pm. central time; NBC predicted $4.95 gas in Chicago by Memorial Day; we will see how accurate that is.)

So, after seeing the segment on shortages, I did what I wish more people would do anytime they read or watch anything: I looked it up.

First, I found a web site that lists the shortages of drugs; this web site is run by pharmaceutical companies that sell medicines to hospitals. 

Second, I also looked for other media reports on this issue.

The New York Times followed up the ABC broadcast with its own report predicting the possible demise of "hundreds and perhaps thousands of children at risk of dying."

The Times made another mistake that shows how eager, we, the media, are, too many times, to tell a story before understanding it well enough to pass it on: They showed a picture of small tablets in a person's hand.

However: I very quickly learned through my research that while methotrexate does come in tablets that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, the only methotrexate for which there is a shortage is  the kind that is injectable; the liquid form.  But when you are more concerned about telling a story then researching it, those kinds of mistakes happen.

So, is there a shortage? Should parents of kids with A.L.L. worry?

Are there other sources of information that we can turn to, besides TV producers and newspaper publishers who worry about ratings and subscription numbers?

Yeah, there are. But we have to spend a few minutes looking for them.

I did that immediately after watching that newscast.

Turns out that the ABC report on the shortage of methotrexate is right -- sort of.

There is a shortage of injectable methotrexate, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). But there are two companies that are currently making the drug, and will have it available by mid- or late- February.

Look at the calendar. Mid-February is basically now. So any hospital that had just a few weeks' supply would be able to restock before "thousands of kids" start dying.

I am not saying that a drug shortage is not a concern; I am merely pointing out that there is a difference between pointing out a concern and predicting the death of "thousands of children."

One of the reason for the shortage is that cancer drugs are hard to make; and the generic versions cost the drug companies as much (or more) to make as they can charge for those drugs. The FDA and pharmaceutical companies have begun discussing long-term solutions to these problems.

But there is not, at this time, any need for panic.

Hearing that a child has leukemia is already scary enough; telling parents that their kid may die because of a shortage of medicine that appears on its way to being resolved before the end of the month does not seem, to me, to be in the best interest of either the public or the person concerned about credible journalism.

The big issue that ABC overlooked in this report is that there are more than 200 medications considered to be in a state of "shortage," according to the ASHP.

If you need the rabies vaccinations, or if you get bitten by a Black Widow spider, you may hear your doctor say there is a shortage of treatments for those, so try to avoid getting bitten any time soon. There is also, according to the ASHP, a shortage of empty vials, which seems to me incredibly ironic: Not only is our national pharmaceutical glass half-empty; it's gone.

The lesson for newspaper readers and TV newscast viewers from the methotrexate shortage is this: When you hear something, find out what it's all about before you believe it.

Turns out we in the news business need to learn that lesson, as well. 

Click HERE for the ASHP web site that lists shortages of specific drugs