Friday, May 27, 2016

New York Times Misleading Headlines- A Textbook Example


The New York Times 
May 21, 2016

IMHO The New York Times is notorious for its practice to sometimes place a highly misleading headline to imply something that is belied within the body of the article, as if they want to sway opinion among those that are more prone to skim headlines, rather than more thoroughly digest articles and ask questions.

A recent example of this is with their May 21, 2016 article by Abby Goodnough and Sabrina Travernise about the simultaneous fall in the number of prescriptions in the U.S. being issued for opioids, and the rise in the number of opioid related fatal overdoses.

An honest headline would have been: "U.S. Opioid Prescriptions Down; Deaths Up".

However, the headline appearing on their print edition,
prominently at top right of page one, was: "Prescription Dip Seen as Advance in Opioid Battle"

The headline appearing on the print edition's continuation of this article on page 3 was:
"Opioid Prescriptions Drop For The First Time In 20 Years" 

Notably, it is the 2nd rather than the 1st of these headlines that now appears at the top of this article upon the New York Times web-site:

From within the body of the article:

(excerpts)
"...for each of the past three years — 2013, 2014 and 2015 — prescriptions have declined, a review of several sources of data shows."

" IMS Health, an information firm whose data on prescribing is used throughout the health care industry, found a 12 percent decline in opioid prescriptions nationally since a peak in 2012. Another data company, Symphony Health Solutions, reported a drop of about 18 percent during those years. Opioid prescriptions have fallen in 49 states since 2013, according to IMS, with some of the sharpest decreases coming in West Virginia, the state considered the center of the opioid epidemic, and in Texas and Oklahoma. (Only South Dakota showed an increase.)" ...
... One important development that may have helped propel the decline came in 2014, when the federal government tightened prescribing rules for one of the most common painkillers: hydrocodone combined with a second analgesic, like acetaminophen. In the first year after the measure took effect, dispensed prescriptions declined by 22 percent, and pills by 16 percent, according to an analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine. Refills — which the change made much more difficult — accounted for 73 percent of the decline.
Yet:
" So far, fewer prescriptions have not led to fewer deaths: fatal overdoses from opioids have continued to rise, taking more than 28,000 lives in 2014, according to the most recent federal health data. That number includes deaths from both prescription painkillers, like Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin, and heroin, an illegal opioid whose use has been rising as access to prescription drugs has tightened."
Fewer prescriptions, yet more deaths is see as an advance?
 
This should be regarded as a textbook example of the New York Times issuing a misleading headline to conform with its slavish devotion to the incorrect position of the political campaign that it has advanced in numerous editorials and quest pieces, in favor of further overriding doctors and patients on decisions regarding opioids. 

For more on this, please see my concurrent piece in my other blog "Freedom of Medicine and Diet"

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2016/05/opioid-prescriptions-down-deaths-up-ny.html

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Imagine This- 1st U.S. 100+ mph "Autobahn" High Speed Tollway Announced For Western Utah I-80 Median Space

Salt Lake City Utah to West Wendover, Nevada Facility Proposed For Construction In The I-80 Median- Expected to Spur Tourism and Automotive Technology Development In The Bonneville Salt Lakes Flats Area

Project to construct a pair of barrier separated highway speed carriageways in the median of I-80 from Wendover, ultimately to western Salt Lake City, would bring a whole new opportunity for ultra high speed driving in the Bonneville Salt Flats area.

- 1st stage is the 50 mile western portion.

- 2nd stage is a re-aligned I-80 segment between Aragonite and Sinclair, to provide a greater radii curve.

- 3rd stage is the eastern portion to western Lake Point, and continue to western Salt Lake City with a speed limit reduced to 120 mph. 

Would be separate from the regular I-80 2x2 roadways.  It would ultimately have full left and right hand shoulders flanking 3 lanes in each direction, with individual minimum speed postings: a posted right-hand lane minimum speed of 90 mph, a middle lane minimum of 110 mph, and a left lane minimum of 140 mph.  Travel at 155 mph or high would require the operation of 4 way blinkers to increase visual impacts of such higher speed traffic to others, with passing speed variables limited to a differential of 35 mph to vehicles in the immediate adjacent lane.  Would feature camera enforcement for lane discipline posted regulations, with passing on the left strictly enforced, and be open via a special toll.

Would be part of an automotive development program encouraging automotive technological and vehicular construction projects, with new facilities for accommodating increased tourism based upon a love of automobiles, including a boost to automotive activities upon the Salt Lake Flats.

Is also being supported by the Nevada Casino business interests to encourage traffic from Salt Lake City and its International Airport to West Wendover, Nevada, which are discussing establishing a high speed automobile service and rentals between those points.   The casinos are expected to use various models of high performance automobiles for such a service, with various auto manufactures rumored to be considering offering the use of certain models for free in exchange for the publicity to drive sales.

Is expected to spur tourism in the Wendover- Salt Flats area.

Would be equipped with special tollway entryways to discourage inebriated drivers.

Would be equipped with roadside facilities with refueling stations, including Tesla ‘supercharger’ recharging equipment at 50 mile intervals to facilitate high performance electric automobile clientele, who would need these to accommodate the reduced millage range of such high speed driving; while Teslas for instance, which lack combustion engines for running generators and thus relay strictly upon batteries, are known to have a range of over 200 miles, the higher speed driving to be expected upon this facility would reduce that notably, with speeds of about 125 mph reportedly reducing the range to around 90 to 115 miles.  Such refueling stations likewise would also include combustion fuel stations offering more than the standard fare of gasolines, including E-85 for flex fuel vehicles, and special higher octane blends for operating ultra high performance automobiles at higher speeds, particularly in higher temperature weather.  Such stations would likewise be used to showcase various alternative fuel alternatives as part of the general use of this high speed corridor to showcase advancements in automotive technologies to promote greater efficiencies and cleaner automobiles.

The corridor likewise would add improvements to the existing I-80, including better markings, and would line it with various shrubs to provide safer means of controlling possible errant vehicles, as well as to ‘eat’ CO2 emissions from combustion engine propelled vehicles.

An evaluation of safety records would be used to refine the speed regulations for this and ultimately other such facilities.