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The Skinny Today: The LA Times looks at the phenomenon of finding religion in odd places ... like grilled cheese. Plus, another dire assessment on Iraq, Condi rejects recommendations of help from Syria and Iran on Iraq and finally, some good news about breast cancer. The Skinny is Hillary Profita's take on the top of the news and the best of the Web.

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Each week we invite someone from outside PE to weigh in with their thoughts about CBS News and the media at large. This week, we turned to Andrew Holtz, MPH, a former CNN medical correspondent and author of the book The Medical Science of House, M.D. Holtz is also the past president of the Association of Health Care Journalists and currently sits on its board. The opinions he expresses here are not necessarily those of AHCJ. Below, Holtz wonders if we're getting all the news we need to make informed decisions about health care. As always, the opinions expressed and factual assertions made in “Outside Voices” are those of the author, not ours, and we seek a wide variety of voices.

A recent international report had some good news about mammography… and some not so good news. The systematic review of clinical trials concluded women who get mammograms are less likely to die of breast cancer. However, for each life saved, 10 women may be treated unnecessarily for cancers that are not dangerous to their health.

Did you know that?

Probably not, if you get your news from CBS, because the network apparently didn’t think the report was news at all. I’m picking on CBS only because this is the CBS Public Eye Web site; none of the major U.S. news organizations reported on the study that concluded routine mammography screening may be 10 times as likely to lead to unnecessary treatment as it is to save a life.

I’m not saying mammography is bad. In response to the latest study, a number of cancer experts rose to defend recommendations that most women start getting regular mammograms in middle age.

Actually, I’m not writing about mammography at all. My question is: are we getting the sort of information in news stories that will help us make informed decisions about widely-used medical tests and treatments?

Are you interested in getting the big picture on mammography … the imperfections and limitations … as well as the benefits? Apparently, news editors at CBS and other U.S. news organizations didn’t think you’d be very interested in the systematic review of randomized clinical trials of mammography screening that was released in October by a prestigious international collaboration of medical researchers.

News editors in Britain and other countries made very different judgments.

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Earlier this month, the "Evening News" featured a two-part report from correspondent Sharyl Attkisson that examined claims of a link between antiperspirants and breast cancer. You can watch both segments below:










Dr. Ted S. Gansler, director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, who was interviewed for the report, had several complaints about its “sensational and misleading tone.” He outlined his concerns in a recent letter to “Evening News” Executive Producer Jim Murphy. From his letter:

“The average viewer hearing the story would believe there might quite likely be a link between antiperspirants and breast cancer that is being covered up by the government, health experts, and the cosmetics industry. As a result, rather than dispel this common misconception, your report served to further the baseless and scary rumor, leaving women confused, concerned, and arguably, worse off than they would have been had they not watched the program.”

Upon receipt of Gansler’s letter, Attkisson responded to his concerns. From her letter:

“Your letter appears to once again repeat a widespread misconception in seeming to imply that a link between antiperspirants and breast cancer has been ruled out. The point made in our report is that no such link has been ruled out, a fact that surely antiperspirant users deserve to know when making decisions about their product usage.”

You can read both letters in full after the jump.

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