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H1N1, MMR, overcrowding: Do journalists have a duty to tell the truth?
The blog of the BMJ’s Journal of Medical Ethics is always worth checking into – complex treatments of apparently simple problems. In the latest entry on the handling, by the press, of the H1N1 virus,...
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Intervention needed on tyranny of thinness
Laura Finn reports on research which found that girls as young as five are negatively influenced by media-constructed, ultra-thin body ideals Girls as young as five years old have shown to be...
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Very worthy winner of McEntee writing prize
Dear Editor, I would like to thank everyone who attended the recent Society of Irish Medical Writers Meeting in Clontarf. The meeting was very successful due to the excellent input of our guest...
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Far from ‘ultra’ sound advice
Dr Ruairi Hanley argues that doctors are more likely to get a right answer than the notion of ‘patient instinct’ promoted in the recent coverage of misdiagnosed miscarriages I was driving to work when...
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Psychiatry and the paparazzi principle
Rory Hafford talks to Prof Patricia Casey about court cases, media mayhem and Mary Harney Professor Patricia Casey remembers the moment well. She was standing in the austere halls of the Four Courts,...
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Doing the paper rounds
Dara Gantly looks as what we have learned from Prof Brendan Drumm’s recent media interviews Back in 2005, at his first press briefing as HSE CEO, Prof Brendan Drumm expressed surprise when he entered...
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For the times we live in
Dr Ruairi Hanley Dr Ruairi Hanley believes a recent debate on the cervical cancer vaccine in a national newspaper was a despicable exercise in political correctness For many years now I have had a...
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A sick note scandal
Dr Ruairi Hanley Following an unsuccessful complaint taken three years ago to the Press Ombudsman against one newspaper’s sting operation against doctors, Dr Ruairi Hanley knew that similar articles...
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Horses for main courses
Dr Ruairi Hanley Dr Ruairi Hanley believes the media needs to re-evaluate its priorities and focus its spotlight away from horse burgers and back to more ‘meaty’ issues facing society. Once upon a...
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A scandal-setting agenda
Government is constantly reacting to the latest PR crisis Reflecting on the great Irish crèche crisis, Dr Ruairi Hanley wonders why we always have to wait for a Dr Ruairi Hanley scandal before our...
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Read my lips — no cover-up?
Dara Gantly Dara Gantly looks at the latest care scandal to hit a beleaguered NHS. Are you kidding me? This can never be in the public domain nor subject to FOI.” The now infamous alleged uttering of...
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Not even a sausage for Letterkenny
The building was evacuated as contaminated water flowed throughout Dr Ruairi Hanley Dr Ruairi Hanley believes the disparity between the coverage in some sections of the media of the flooding at...
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To cast the first stone
Dr Ruairi Hanley Dr Ruairi Hanley casts the first stone at the media and GP representative bodies’ handling of what he believes to be an imprudent policy revealed in the recent Budget 2014. The...
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Media should have doctor analysts
By Catherine Reilly. The mainstream media are often “totally irresponsible” in the reporting of medical matters and every big media organisation should have a doctor analyst or journalist contributing...
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The HSE is leaking like a sieve
When your team keeps leaking that many own goals, then you should know it’s going to be a long, hard season, writes Lloyd Mudiwa. The HSE has shipped a lot of criticism since its inception in January...
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Maintaining the fourth estate
Dr Ruairi Hanley singles out a number of journalists for high praise for their sterling work in holding the HSE and the Government to account for the failings of our health service.Over the past number...
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Unlike Twink’s dog, trolleys never disappeared
Dr Ruairi Hanley bemoans excessive coverage by the media of Twink’s ‘pilfered’ pooch while making a dog’s breakfast of reporting ‘life-saving’ news. A few weeks ago, I broke with my habit of 20 years...
View ArticleA pregnant pause on unfair criticism
Dr Ruairi Hanley welcomes moves to inform the public of the world-class obstetric care provided in Irish hospitals, to counter what he sees as the unfair blanket criticism of the specialty in the...
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