text_1: Medicating Children With ADHD Keeps Them Safer
text_2: This article reports on new findings that link medicating kids with ADHD to “safer” behaviors as they get older. The story clearly takes the viewpoint that this is the case, and yet we aren’t given enough evidence from the study itself–or other studies alluded to–to make this assessment for ourselves. Instead, we’re given partial “truth-isms” like this statement, which doesn’t really paint the full picture: “Accidents are the most common cause of death in individuals with ADHD.” What’s missing? That’s also true for kids who don’t have ADHD, with “unintentional injury” being the top cause of death among all U.S. kids–and young adults, too. If it were clear that this was an opinion piece designed to advance an argument, we’d be more forgiving of these shortcomings. But we found the piece in the general health section of the website (not with the opinion columns), and the headline reads like a straight news story. Readers may be confused — as we were — as to whether this is objective, balanced news or just a columnist’s attempt to persuade. The diagnosis of ADHD is common, the impact of the condition is significant and the medications used have potential for adverse effects. Controversy exists on the number of children treated, and the balance of harms/benefits–and news coverage and commentary that doesn’t acknowledge these nuances does a disservice to the concerned reader.