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TheREADERColdTypeWRITINGWORTHREADINGlISSUE6lJUNE2006AREYOUSUREYOU’REFEELINGOK?INSIDE:OPENINGTHEDEBATEONISRAELlSIXTEENKILOSOFWRITER’SBLOCKlBONO’SINDEPENDENTlMYMISSINGYEARSlMEMORIALDAY?l&MOREColdTypeWRITINGWORTHREADINGFROMAROUNDTHEWORLD’REFEELINGOK?ByStanCox11.APPEALINGTOTHEU.S.ISNOTVERYAPPEALINGByWilliamBlum13.COLBERTANDTHECOURTIERPRESSByRobertParry17.OPENINGTHEDEBATEONISRAELByNormanSolomon21.CLOSETOHOME:MYMISSINGYEARSByAndyMoore24.REDLIGHTDISTRICT;BONO’SINDEPENDENTByHarryBrowne38.SIXTEENKILOSOFWRITER’SBLOCKByPaulAsh30.“COMEOUTWITHYOURHANDSUP”ByBillBlum38.HATEBAITINGATTHENATIONALPOSTByC.L.Cook40.MEMORIALDAY?ByDavidRubinsonEditor:TonySuttoneditor@coldtype.netTheREADERColdType2TheREADERISSUE6|JUNE2006YouseeaTVshoworacom-mercialfeaturingmedicalproblems,andyoustartfeel-ingthesymptomsyourself:atwingeinthelegormaybeamomentofdoubtaboutyouremotionalsta-bility.Ifso,you,likemillionsofAmeri-cans,couldbesufferingfromaseriousconditionknownastelechondria.Buthelpishere,withnewAdvertil(R)inthegreen-and-yellowcaplet.Askyourdoctor…No,wait,don’treallyask.Tele-chondriacshavenotyetbeenrecog-nizedbyscience.Pharmacistsarenotdispensingdrugslike“Advertil,”andtheyprobablyneverwill.Thelastchemicalthatpharmaceuticalexecu-tiveswouldwanttosellyouisonethatmakesitharderforthemtocon-vinceyouthatyou’resickandneedtheirproducts.Drugcorporationsandtheir“awareness”groups,aswe’reallpainfullyaware,havedefinedandredefinedahostofmedicalconditions–includingfemalesexualdysfunc-tion,erectiledysfunction,restlesslegs,sleeplessness,bipolardisorder,atten-tiondeficitdisorder,socialanxietydisorderandirritablebowelsyn-drome–toincludelargerandlargersegmentsofthepopulationintheUnitedStatesandotherWesternnations.Acceptingforamomenttheindus-try’sclaimsaboutthenumbersofpeoplesufferingfromtheeightdis-easeslistedabove,wecoulddosomesimplecalculationsshowingthatupto93percentofadultwomenandmenintheUnitedStatessufferfromatleastoneofthem.Throwinafewmoreconditionslikedepression,bonedensitylossandpremenstrualdys-phoricdisorder,andindustryfiguresmakeitappearthatvirtuallyeveryAmericanhasadiseaseinneedofatreatment.Lastyear,RayMoynihanandAlanCasselscalledattentiontotheepi-demicofdiseasemarketingintheirbook“SellingSickness.”Lastmonth,healthprofessionals,academics,jour-nalistsandconsumersgatheredinNewcastle,Australia,fortheInaugur-alConferenceonDiseaseMongering.TheREADER3Throwinafewmoreconditionslikedepression,bonedensitylossandpremenstrualdysphoricdisorder,andindustryfiguresmakeitappearthatvirtuallyeveryAmericanhasadiseaseinneedofatreatmentGOODHEALTH?AREYOUSUREYOU’REFEELINGOK?Drugcompaniesarecashinginonahostofnewly-definedmedicalconditions,includingfemalesexualdysfunction,erectiledysfunction,restlesslegssyndrome,sleeplessness,socialanxietydisorderandirritablebowelsyndrome.Ifwebelievetheindustry,saysStanCox,we’veallgotadiseaseinneedoftreatmentAsetofpapersfromthatmeetingwaspublishedfreebytheonlinejournalPLoSMedicine.Alsolastmonth,thePrescriptionAccessLitigationProject(PALP)inBostonannouncedits“2006BitterPillAwards,”recognizingdrugcompaniesthatengagedintheyear’sworst“overzealousandquestionablemarketingpractices.”Theseandotherrecentactivitiesmakeitalltooclearthattheprof-itablepracticesexposedinLynnPay-er’s1992book“DiseaseMongers:HowDoctors,DrugCompanies,andInsur-ersAreMakingYouFeelSick”havebeenrefinedandamplifiedinrecentyears,withtheapparentgoalofmed-icatinganentirepopulation.RestlesslegsTheevolutionof“restlesslegssyn-drome,”documentedbyStevenWol-oshinandLisaSchwartzinapaperfromtheDiseaseMongeringConfer-ence,isacasestudyinhowaphar-maceuticalcompany,withhelpfromthemedia,canturnwhatisaseriousproblemforsomepeopleintoacon-trivedmedicalconditionformillionsmore.WoloshinandSchwartzanalyzedmediacoverageintheintervalbe-tween2003,whenGlaxoSmithKlineInc.firstissuedpressreleasesabouttrialsofitsdrugRequipforreliefofrestlesslegssyndrome,and2005,whentheU.S.FoodandDrugAdministration(FDA)approvedthatuse.Of187majornewspaperarticlespublishedduringthosetwoyears,64percentrelayedwithoutcommenttheindustry’sclaimsthatmillionsofAmericans–asmanyas“1in10adults”–sufferrestlessleg.Forty-fivepercentofthearticlesstressedthatmanypeoplemaybeunawarethey’resick,eventhough,accordingto73per-centofthearticles,thesyndromecanhaveextremephysical,socialandemotionalconsequences.Reportsofthereliefprovidedbydrugtreatmentused“miraclelanguage”34percentofthetime,while93percentofarticlesfailedtoquantifyRequip’ssideeffects.YetthereliefpeoplegetfromRequipappearstobeanythingbutmiraculous.Inonetrial,73percentofsubjectssawimprovement–com-paredwith57percentwhosesymp-tomsimprovedwithaplacebo!SideeffectsthatoccurredinclinicaltrialsatleasttwiceasoftenwithRequipaswithaplaceboincludednausea(40percentofsubjects),vomiting(11per-cent),somnolence(12percent),dizzi-ness(11percent)andfatigue(8per-cent).Myattemptstoobtainresponsesfromseveraldrugcompaniestochargesofmongeringrestlesslegandotherconditionswentunanswered.QuotedlastmonthbytheGuardian(U.K.)ashedefendedhiscompanyagainstbadpublicitygeneratedbytheconf