We're Number One

Congratulations! I'm please my old blog Genetics and Health ranked at 18 but it's also irksome since it's been dead as of end April after I moved to EyeOnDNA.com. GAH.

Congratulations.

I am a member of the science media and I find your links to be very helpful.

Medgadget,
The eDrugsearch list does have some problems. I think there should be a transparency/commercial influence score for each blog. How do you think you'd do in that regard? Not very well, I'd suggest.

Dean Giustini
OM blogger
UBC google scholar blog

Dean Giustini:

Cheap shots. It is quite easy to accuse us of commercial influences when we have to cover the latest news from the industry. You might not realise it, but our heart is with our readers and not with the companies. We have never received any incentives from companies to cover their devices. When our opinion was negative about some technology, we stated so, and gave a negative review to the device.

Our disclaimer clearly states that we strictly observe differentiation between content and advertising. It is a moral imperative for us, but also a matter of survival.

We very diligently--after call, pre-call, away from our families, between OR cases, and whenever we have some free time--search for the latest in medical technologies. Nobody helps us, and no one bribes us. You, on the other hand, decorate yourself with this "open medicine" regalia, and think that you have some moral superiority and authority to question our values.

Again, cheap shots.

P.S. Medgadget has also been in compliance with the HONcode, and is certified by the Health On the Net Foundation, a "leading organization promoting and guiding the deployment of useful and reliable online medical and health information." How about your blog, Dean?

Hey Dr. Ostrovsky,
In the spirit of open debate, I am responding. My question was meant to illicit discussion not argument. I visit Medgadget and think it's a very useful website, and applaud your efforts. In a world that is increasingly suffering from a lack of transparency and, in medicine, from too much commercialism, will you at least admit that these are trends we all need to guard against.

I congratulate you, and one hopes another nerve has not been struck.

Dean Giustini
Open Medicine blog

Hey, Dean:

I see that you deleted quite a few comments about this on your own blogs: OM and Google Scholar Blog. I wonder if open debate is a one way street for you.

Mr. Guistini,
As an editor of this site, my nerve has indeed been struck and I take great offense at the ease in which you make such blatantly false allegations. I understand that its difficult for you to see the real world from atop your ivory tower of academia, but that is no excuse for your ignorance. If you are an avid reader of our blog, as you claim to be, then you'd know that the [vast] majority of our content is made from press releases and 3rd party news articles. I can't remember the last time GE sent us their new MRI machine in return for a favorable post. Hell, I challenge you to find even one example where our opinions were clouded by a "commercial influence." I have been personally harassed by companies for my negative (and correct) opinion of products, so I'll be damned if an "academic elite" calls my judgment and behavior into question.

We are proud of our highly educated audience and we know that we owe our success to the simple fact that we AREN'T just a lap dogs for the med-tech industry. The next time you want to spew your allegations, you better make damn sure that you have your facts straight first.

Lastly, I'd like to take to task your comment about "too much commercialism" in medicine. I DO NOT "admit" that this trend is worthy of guarding against. Your attempt to smear the good name of capitalism is as appalling as it is ignorant. Every country on this planet has capitalism (ie commercialism) to thank for nearly all of the life saving technologies that you take for granted. Without the American market making medical advances profitable, the rest of the world's health (Canada especially) would suffer greatly.

So "talk" about openness all you want, but don't insult us in the process.

Let's not forget that Mr. Giustini has not properly attributed the origin of the term "Open Medicine", as far as I know. If you read his magazine you might think he actually came up with it!

So much for trying to be "standards of conduct" police.