You Call That Reporting?!

You may have noticed some headlines recently about babies’ allergies to cow’s milk going undiagnosed. I didn’t pay too much attention at the time, since Pooky doesn’t indulge in cow’s milk yet, but I didn’t doubt that what was being reported was reliable information, since it showed up in, among other sources, the BBC. My mistake. It turns out that the story is not based on any impartial, peer-reviewed study, but on the work of a “medical taskforce” called Act Against Allergy, which, it turns out, is part of SHS International, who make a milk substitute called Neocate.

It gets more complicated than I could explain here, but you should definitely read all of the sordid details in this truly eye-opening post by NHS Blog Doctor, in which the doctor writes that “this is yet another powder invented by Big Pharma for us to insert into our children whilst they are too young to take Ritalin, Strattera and Prozac and all those other chemicals that Big Pharma has in store for them as they get older.” He also notes that allergies to cow’s milk are much less common than the articles indicate. He goes on to blast the BBC for its reporting:

This is not science. This is not news. The BBC has allowed Big Pharma (SHS International) a product placement advert masquerading under the guise of science and news.

This seems scandalous to me. Makes you wonder who you can trust.