Ethics

Health Information Ethics 2023

We believe journalistic ethics and medical research go hand-in-glove.

In today’s fake news world, journalists must go the extra mile to protect patients from misleading information and focus on therapies that will save lives and reduce overall health costs.

The highest priority for health information publishers is protecting patients who might be negatively impacted by misleading news.

Which means ‘do no harm.’

We support confidential, patient-provider conversations by publishing fact-checked information.

Industry Standards:

In 1999, several eHealth 1.0 leaders gathered in New York City to define news publishing standards for the digital ecosystem. Most of those publishing standards remaicompellingve today. But unfortunately, many media reports overemphasize potential benefits, ignore apparent shortcomings, and do not present cost issues.

In 2022, various news organizations deployed AI-content-creating technologies. While these innovative solutions offer operational efficiencies, we believe AI-edited health information requires clear disclosures and provider oversight to empower patient trust. 

Furthermore, we support these industry-leading non-profit health news publishing criteria:

• Health News Review  
• Retraction Watch
• Association of Healthcare Journalists 

Guiding Principles:

• Authoritative: is the source from qualified authors
• Complementarity: all published information should enhance, not replace, the doctor/nurse/pharmacist relationship with patients
• Attribution: citations identify the source(s) of the relevant research
• Transparency: the independence from bias shall at all times be preserved
• Financial disclosure: related funding source and researcher relationship must be communicated appropriately

Advisory Team:

Don Ward Hackett, Publisher, and Dr. Robert Carlson, Clinical Editor, have published health news and vaccine information for 13 years. And Holly Luttmer, PharmD, joined the leadership team in 2021. In addition, un-compensated advisory board members share industry insights and have direct subject matter knowledge focused on the vaccine delivery industry.