I hate media reporting about health and medicine

Dearest Gina,

9 times out of 10 I love your reporting.

But why did you have to write this article without distinguishing between breast and prostate cancer screening at all? There is a difference between the "exaggeration" of risk and benefit claims regarding an effective, proven, life-saving screening test (mammography) and the "exaggeration" of claims regarding an as yet unproven, probably pointless screening test with serious side effects (prostate cancer screening). Sure, both don't work as well as most public health messages claim. But one actually works! ARGH!

clipped from www.msnbc.msn.com Advantages to cancer screening ‘exaggerated’ By Gina Kolata The American Cancer Society, which has long been a staunch defender of most cancer screening, is now saying that the benefits of detecting many cancers, especially breast and prostate, have been overstated.