Donna Barker Communications

ANYWAY! Seeing the image projected on a wall I noticed the GSK logo…which I hadn’t noticed when I saw the billboard on the street! I made an assumption that the billboard had been purchased by an organization like the Pediatric Association or some other non-profit interested in child heath… why would I think that?! Because in Canada that’s who would deliver this message – not the company making the vaccine. Continue Reading »

I walked passed this sign in a non-tourist part of Colombo, Sri Lanka yesterday. Not sure how I feel about it. If it were in downtown Vancouver, my feelings would be clear, but in this country, I have no idea what the impact of hep B and chicken pox is on kids…funny though, that this ad is promoting the two newest vaccines in the arsenal.

For those readers, who, like me will not follow the instruction to read yesterday’s post, because they were asked to, here’s a link to the article I’m discussing:

The four most dangerous words in medicine: First do no harm

So let’s start at the CBC. Being a proud Canadian, and just a little left-of-centre in my political views, I turn to our national broadcaster for most of my daily news needs. And, when I want to know about good journalistic principles, the CBC is the first place to look. Here’s what they say: Continue Reading »

Top of the list, which I really should have put-together given my day-job, is how reliant health reporters are on industry-generated press releases for their stories. Not just what the story will be about, but the focus of the story and the tone of it.

What does this mean? Well, let’s say, for instance, there’s a new vaccine (It’s Monday…vaccine news day) that will save us from ourselves. And, let’s say this is a vaccine to protect small kids from severe diarrhea. And the severe diarrhea has a medical label: rotavirus. Continue Reading »

Strongest warning suggested for ADHD drugs

2 million children are prescribed the drugs every month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ritalin and other stimulant drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder should carry the strongest warning that they may be linked to an increased risk of death and injury, federal health advisers said Thursday.

The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted in favor of the “black box” warning after hearing about the deaths of 25 people, including 19 children, who had taken the drugs. The vote was 8-7, with one abstention.

Yeah, it’s the CNN.com version of reality, but that makes this even more shocking. CNN is usually pretty pro-corporate agenda in its spin. Continue Reading »

I get a couple of these calls a week. Unlike many of my friends I neither hang up on the caller nor do I verbally abuse them.

I used to work the phones in a market research company. It was the only job I could find when I first arrived in Vancouver 14 years ago. It was miserable. I empathize with the people making minimum wage, hating what they’re doing and not caring a whit about what they’re trying to sell or the research data they’re gathering. Continue Reading »

A surprise fortieth birthday party, organized in Vancouver from Seattle…my sister is amazing! My friends – many of whom I’ve had in my life for twenty years, some of whom have “only” been walking along my life path for a couple of years – are the most supportive and loving gang of people ever brought into one life.

I am truly blessed.

In addition to a party with so many old friends, I also met with someone for the first time this weekend. The professor who founded the Neural Dynamics Research Lab at the Vancouver General Hospital: Dr. Chris Shaw. And our meeting, I predict, was one of those transformative events that happens so rarely in life: Prof. Shaw walked into my house this weekend (with potted flowers in honour of my birthday…is that nice or what?) and offered the missing third leg of the stool that I have been trying to make stand for nine years. Continue Reading »