Print Media, Publicity and Misinformation: ‘Miracle Cures’ as a Health Communication and Media Social Responsibility Issue

Abstract

In this over-informed society, the use of public relations techniques such as publicity, events or lobbying on issues affecting public health is worrying. While these techniques are effective when marketing pharmaceutical products, their ethically implications are questionable anddepend on the intentionality of the issuer. The spread of information in the field of health and promotion of drugs requires special care, as it can generate false expectations and serious consequences for public health. Legal restrictions make pharmaceutical companies look for new ways to reach their audience, using the media for commercial purposes, which contradicts their Social Responsibility policies and raises doubts about their commitment to information.  Recent reports on semaglutide as a weight-loss solution have raised doubts about the reliability of their content. Obesity is a major health challenge, influenced by sedentary lifestyles, technology and social stigma. The media, urged on by laboratories, present medicines as objects of consumption and the patient as their target audience. A preliminary analysis of the results provides a critical overview of the media’s treatment of the fashionable drug, semaglutide, which addresses a serious health problem in modern societies. The data also point to the need for a wider information context and greater media literacy among citizens to avoid false expectations and potential risks to public health. It brings back the debate on the responsibility of the media and communicators and focuses on the influence of public relations techniques, as well as the need for more ethical and responsible health journalism to protect the public from misleading information.