- My.Trusted.MD
- Columns
- Healthy Living
- Heart Advisor
- Surgery Insider
- Medical Imaging
- Nutrition & Life
- Skin Care & Beauty
- Wellness Report
- A Patient's Journey
- Insurance Dispatch
- Medical Bill Advisor
- Medical Marketing
- Physician EMR Review
- Practice Appraisal
- Entrepreneurship
- Medical Billing
- Healthcare PR
- New Health Leader
- Quality Advocate
- RHIO Monitor
- Hippocrates
- Personal Musings
- Bloggers
- About
- Contact
Credibility Spat: Blogs vs. Peer-Reviewed Pubs
Featured in: Hippocrates
"Art is long; life is short; opportunity is fleeting; judgement is difficult; experience is deceitful." -Hippocrates of Cos
Kent Bottles, MD from Journal of Medical Practice Management (JMPM) made a great podcast with Nick of Blogborygmi, founder of Grand Rounds. The podcast is 25 min long and some of the discussion is especially worth noting.
The real sign that medical blogging has arrived is that antagonism is starting to brew between bloggers and established peer-reviewed research publications. George D. Lundberg, MD, editor-in-chief of Medscape/WebMD, former editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the ultimate representative of "mainstream medical media" establishment. This means he has much in common with Dan Rather. In fact he had a rather Ratheresque experience at JAMA not that long ago.
Dr. Lundberg blasts weblogs as untrustworthy in his video editorial: "Is There a Place for Medical Blogs in a Medical Media Company?". The editorial goes on to denigrate blogs as "communication anarchy", "troubled teenager peer-to-peer telephone calls", "conversation in a crowded bar" and so on. He questions whether medical blogs should be given any credibility whatsoever. Still there is a reason you may want to listen to him. His voice gives him away. It is trembling. He has every reason to be afraid.
Our take:
Many bloggers have already picked apart Medscape editor's argument. The only thing we would add is to try and put this in perspective. I have nothing against peer-reviewed publications in the flavor of JAMA and Medscape. They were the best model, the 19th century could offer. As a communications format it ranks as one of the most important human advances. Right up there with steam engine. But it does not mean it is the best format today, nor are these publications infallible.To be fair, some of the points of George Lundberg are valid. Yes, there is a lot of junk in blogosphere and not every post is vetted and thoroughly reviewed. Yes, there are bloggers out there who have an agenda to push (who does not?). Sure, there is not always a clear line drawn between opinion and fact. Of course a blogger must observe the priniciples of privacy and ethics. Yet, none of this means blogging should be dismissed out of hand. An opportunity to democratize publishing and editorial process should be welcome. The community can moderate itself. Democracy does not equal anarchy.
The real beef of the esteemed Medscape editor against blogs is all about power. The world where only "a few good men" get to decide what others see and think is a nice place if you are among them. It can get very annoying when someone says the emperor is not fully clothed.
Open Media is here to stay and Open Medicine is upon us. As the community matures there will be more than enough opportunity for bloggers to point out flaws in the status quo of "peer-reviewed publications" and develop a better alternative. Remember Rather.
UPDATE (01/19/2006): The latest is our direct debate with Dr. Lundberg: EXCLUSIVE: Medscape's George Lundberg on Open Media: “Let a thousand flowers bloom”
email
delicious
digg
technoratiAuthor Info
Trackbacks (1)
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://trusted.md/trackback/622
Dmitriy recently commented (Credibility Spat: Blogs vs. Peer-Reviewed Pubs) on George D. Lundberg's opinion of mass media's opinion of blogging. Dr Lundberg is the general editor of Medscape General Medicine. He starts by using a lot of loaded phrases (po
Comments (5)
Lactated Ringers and hetastarch as well as dextram are being used as blood substitutes. LR is not approved by the FDA and been in use since 1938. Hestarch is also known as hespan and hextend. It was approved in 1971 to be used in an emergency as on the battlefield. These products carry no oxygen and are deadly. I have reported to the FDA what my research over the past 2 years has produced along with the slow death these products have caused. I was told by the compliance director at the FDA that this would not be made public. I have so much to "blog about", but must lie down for now. I will be back. The Compliance Director with CBER (Center for Biologics and Research) is Mr. Elterman.
If you have had surgery, get your medical records as well as an itemized statement of your bill. I was amaed at what I found. The medical record indicated I bled 100ml and yet according to the bill, I was given 28 liters of blood substitutes. Must have been bleeding like a stuck pig, you think?? These substitutes are to be used in emeregency only until blood or plasma can be given. Lacteds Ringers is found under Vet medicine on the FDA Web Site. It is "grandfathered "in according to Harold Davis, Drug Information employee at FDA. To date, I have been unable to get any doctor to tell me the results of my tests and I have seen alot of doctors. They pass me on to someone else and Dr Green at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N. C. told me as he was walking out the room, you know something is wrong, don't you and I said yes and out he goes after referring me to Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, N. C. (Wake Forest, Bowman Gray School of Medicine) and now here is a real kicker. My neurosurgeon at Baptist told me through his secretary that he would not discuss the results of my brain CT , that he had told me all he was going to tell me and that is exactly nothing I didn't already know. Even though the patient is supposed to be protected by the Patient Bill of Rights and the Grand Ole HIPAA , you have no control over what level of information ou receive. They know you can't afford a lawyer so they just run all over you. Something needs to be done and where fo you go?? The government is certainly involved in this is a big was. Someone in power is a Jehovah Wittness. I can back up with documentation everything I am "bloggin about" . Someone in "Bushy's" camp has mandated an alternative to blood. Dear God, Blood is an organ, our very lifeline there is no substitue for it accoring to the Red Cross and they are PART OF THE GOVT., TOO. What to do, where to go, I just don't know. I will keep trying till I can try no more. Hextend which I was given was approved by the FDA after being given to only 120 patients and they were not followed after administration. I have the Summary Basis of Approval that took me over one year to obtain from the FDA throught the Freedom of Information Act and it is horrifying to see what this product did to the animals. It is really disappointing to know Duke was one of two hospitals engaged in this research. What is going on in North Carolina. Have you noticed Mike leavitt and President Bush have been here several time of late. Tusrst me, they know who I am. I have written and asked questions for two years and still have no answers.
ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT TOO
If you have had surgery, get your medical records as well as an itemized statement of your bill. I was amaed at what I found. The medical record indicated I bled 100ml and yet according to the bill, I was given 28 liters of blood substitutes. Must have been bleeding like a stuck pig, you think?? These substitutes are to be used in emeregency only until blood or plasma can be given. Lacteds Ringers is found under Vet medicine on the FDA Web Site. It is "grandfathered "in according to Harold Davis, Drug Information employee at FDA. To date, I have been unable to get any doctor to tell me the results of my tests and I have seen alot of doctors. They pass me on to someone else and Dr Green at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N. C. told me as he was walking out the room, you know something is wrong, don't you and I said yes and out he goes after referring me to Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem, N. C. (Wake Forest, Bowman Gray School of Medicine) and now here is a real kicker. My neurosurgeon at Baptist told me through his secretary that he would not discuss the results of my brain CT , that he had told me all he was going to tell me and that is exactly nothing I didn't already know. Even though the patient is supposed to be protected by the Patient Bill of Rights and the Grand Ole HIPAA , you have no control over what level of information ou receive. They know you can't afford a lawyer so they just run all over you. Something needs to be done and where fo you go?? The government is certainly involved in this is a big was. Someone in power is a Jehovah Wittness. I can back up with documentation everything I am "bloggin about" . Someone in "Bushy's" camp has mandated an alternative to blood. Dear God, Blood is an organ, our very lifeline there is no substitue for it accoring to the Red Cross and they are PART OF THE GOVT., TOO. What to do, where to go, I just don't know. I will keep trying till I can try no more. Hextend which I was given was approved by the FDA after being given to only 120 patients and they were not followed after administration. I have the Summary Basis of Approval that took me over one year to obtain from the FDA throught the Freedom of Information Act and it is horrifying to see what this product did to the animals. It is really disappointing to know Duke was one of two hospitals engaged in this research. What is going on in North Carolina. Have you noticed Mike leavitt and President Bush have been here several time of late. Tusrst me, they know who I am. I have written and asked questions for two years and still have no answers.
ARE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT TOO
Dr. Davis' license was INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED on January 20, 2006; and he was required to surrender his DEA license. He admitted to stealing other physician's prescription pads; then forged prescriptions in the name of his minorchildren for narcotics over a three year period; and diverted them for his personal use.
And yet, he is still listed as a "preferred provider" on all of the local insurnance company panels. There has been absolutely nothing in the local press about his suspension.
How can this be?
Curious
Post new comment
Syndicate
We feel somewhat sorry for the tone of this post, given that Dr.Lundberg has recently accepted blogs, as we discussed here: Medical Media Transformation.
Still, going from opponent to supporter in about a month is quite amazing and further testifies to the power of the medium. As does our ability to correct ourselves in real-time.
Expect us to continue reporting on this transformation.