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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
CityBeat’s Kevin Osborne plays politics with children’s health
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
In the style of Cincinnati media failing to cover the Heimlich medical scandals, CityBeat’s Kevin Osborne has a post at the CityBeat blogs that plays politics with a very real issue regarding the health of children. Sometimes, safety and health should trump political rhetoric, and the issue of medical branding confusion is a serious topic that should not be disregarded so off-handedly.
Osborne takes issue with this item posted in July by Justin Jeffre—who was writing before he decided to run for City Council. Jeffre wrote about a local marketing firm who had mounted an ad campaign for Kids’ Pepto. The problem? Adult Pepto has an ingredient that can prove deadly if ingested by children, and by promoting a product named “Kids’ Pepto,” Jeffre was concerned that branding confusion could put children at risk.
Osborne writes:
Jeffre quoted from a 2005 press release issued by Deskey employee Amanda Matusak that described, as he put it, Matusak’s excitement for “her style of studying children to better sell them products.”
Later in the item, Jeffre noted that Children’s Pepto doesn’t even contain bismuth salicylate. Still, Jeffre told readers, “While the kids’ Pepto does not contain this potentially life-threatening ingredient, branding confusion brought to us by strategists like Amanda Matusak could cause some parents not to understand the difference.”
Osborne goes on to criticize Jeffre (who is not a professional journalist) for not getting quotes from people at P&G, who make the product—instead only asking questions of the person responsible for marketing this product for children.
Next, Osborne does the unbelievable: he goes for petty politics and disregards the real medical concern here:
For Osborne, apparently, medical branding confusion is not a real issue worth considering.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration disagrees.
In this article about drug name confusion, the FDA warns about the potential deadly affects medical branding confusion can cause unsuspecting victims:
An 8-year-old died, it was suspected, after receiving methadone instead of methylphenidate, a drug used to treat attention deficit disorders. A 19-year-old man showed signs of potentially fatal complications after he was given clozapine instead of olanzapine, two drugs used to treat schizophrenia. And a 50-year-old woman was hospitalized after taking Flomax, used to treat the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, instead of Volmax, used to relieve bronchospasm.
In each of these cases reported to the Food and Drug Administration, the names of the dispensed drugs looked or sounded like those that were prescribed. There have been others: Serzone, an antidepressant, for Seroquel, used to treat schizophrenia, and iodine for Lodine, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Adverse events that can occur when drugs are dispensed as the wrong medications underscore the need for clear interpretation and better communication between the doctors who write prescriptions and the pharmacists who fill them. The FDA says that about 10 percent of all medication errors reported result from drug name confusion.
“These errors are not usually due to incompetence,” says Carol A. Holquist, R.Ph., director of the Division of Medication Errors and Technical Support in the FDA’s Office of Drug Safety. “But they are so underreported because people are afraid of the blame.” Errors occur at all levels of the medication-use system, from prescribing to dispensing, Holquist says, which is why those people who receive the prescriptions must take action, too. “Everybody has a role in minimizing medication errors,” she says.
Additionally, this item from the Journal of Post-Graduate Medicine outlines a situation where an elderly woman suffered an adverse reaction from medical branding confusion:
Kevin Osborne wonders why Jeffre wrote about the marketing of Kids’ Pepto (and interviewed the person responsible for the advertising campaign) instead of contacting P&G, who creates the drug. I guess that’s really a question of who should be blamed for potential branding confusion.
We should point out that in these documented incidents of branding confusion, the drugs did not have the same ingredients. This is something Osborne indicates in his item, but he seem to miss the point that the different ingredients is precisely why branding confusion is so problematic.
If there is a “Kid’s Pepto,” why not just give a kid a smaller dosage of regular “Pepto”? Naysayers may here go on a tirade about reading labels, but the average person would never guess that Pepto can kill their child. And likewise, the linked items here show professionals in the medical industry making similar mistakes.
So why is Osborne writing about an old blog post now? Is this politically motivated? And should Osborne be playing politics with the safety of children? That’s something the reader will have to decide.
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24 Oct 2007 at 09:58 pm | #
If you give people the ability to self-medicate, you also give them the ability to read the dosage instructions incorrectly and, if they screw up badly enough, kill themselves or their children. Again it goes back to basic self-awareness and adult responsibility, antiquated notions these days, of course.
But of course you can make everything centrally controlled by the state, and see how well that works.
If you don’t give people the ability to self medicate, the chances are good that more people will die from everyday ailments - many more than will die from misread, misleading or plain missing dosage instructions. But at least it won’t be the corporations fault - because of course they don’t really want to help people effectively - they just are mad for profits.
“Playing politics with the safety of children.” - what expert political hyperbole. But you gotta stick up for your boy JJ. (Remember to begin all defensive responses with: What are you talking about?)
24 Oct 2007 at 11:14 pm | #
Dean, I think Osbourne’s attempt to slam Jeffre actually works the opposite. I think, anyone who can think, gets it. And I agree - pepto really needs to make some huge distinction about their products because I had no idea ...
25 Oct 2007 at 05:27 am | #
Spin Machine On? Check.
Plausible Deniability Field On? Check.
Defensive Rhetoric Generator On? Check.
Petty Political Posturing Engaged? Check.
Starship Beacon Ready For Aborted Launch? Check!!!!!
25 Oct 2007 at 06:03 am | #
I have said nothing about taking away the ability to self-medicate.
I have said that branding confusion is a problem, and the FDA agrees. Use dissimilar names for dissimilar products, and branding confusion is not an issue.
The marketing firm should not have sold this as “Pepto” for kids.
25 Oct 2007 at 10:21 am | #
Dean,
Gimme a break. There are PLENTY of examples of adult and children over-the-counter products sharing names, and there have been for years and years. (Children’s Tylenol, anyone?)
Looks to me that you all were busted going after some low-level marketing woman for your own political reasons.
25 Oct 2007 at 02:59 pm | #
A Concerned Reader, what are you talking about? We weren’t busted doing anything.
Kevin Osbourne shouldn’t be writing gossip columns at all, especially 13 days before an election.
I’m starting to think he’s just another partisan hack. He did write a biased pro-jail piece and now he talks about the “campaign trail”, blogs and circles I don’t know about. Campaign trail? Where have you been Kevin? I’ve only seen you at one event. Just one!!!
You’ve been spending too much time at the rumor mill and you need to start doing your job so we at the Beacon don’t have to. The Dean doesn’t get paid and he still gives better election coverage than you and your whole paper does. Now you’ve resorted to gossip columns and petty smears right before the election. Pathetic!!!
I don’t know who Greg Matusak is, I’ve never seen any comments by him and why would I care if he said I had stocks that everybody already knew about from 2005 anyway? Who cares? I didn’t care then and I don’t care now. I’m not some trust fund baby, I worked my ass off for everything I own, I don’t apologize and I’ll criticize any corporation I want. As a matter of fact I’m just getting started.
I think it’s disgusting when corporate hacks like Amanda Matusak and the other mind molders at Deskey try to manipulate the minds of children. In this particular case there’s a safety concern. Another incident involving branding confusion and children’s cough medicine happened recently. There was a recall. I would’ve written about it, but I’m too busy on the campaign trail right now.
The corporate Democrats (including Kevin Osbourne) would like to distract people from the issues because their corporate owned party has screwed our people so bad. They screwed the Unions with NAFTA, I’ve never seen any local Democrats when the janitors or Cincinnati Bell workers were demonstrating. I also never saw Kevin Osbourne or City Beat covering them.
The corporate Democrats continue to expand a criminal injustice system and give away our tax dollars to the corporations that own them.
The corporate Democrats will do anything to attack the Green Party and any progressive Democrat that gets out of line with what the Party bosses like Tim Burke say.
The people have been had, hoodwinked and bamboozled, but when they hear the rooster crowing they know it’s time to wake up, get up, stand up, and start marching. Well the sun is up and nothing can stop the march of an informed people!
All power to the people!
25 Oct 2007 at 03:46 pm | #
Justin,
You, sir, are a tool. Better stick to dancing.
25 Oct 2007 at 04:24 pm | #
Jeffre writes:
“I’ve never seen any local Democrats when the janitors or Cincinnati Bell workers were demonstrating. I also never saw Kevin Osbourne or City Beat covering them..”
Try here, for starters:
http://blogs.citybeat.com/porkopolis/2007/07/justice-for-jan.html
http://blogs.citybeat.com/porkopolis/2007/07/look-what-happe.html
http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:140318
http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:140461
There are also other examples, but I will stop there.
25 Oct 2007 at 09:55 pm | #
Why is it that everyone & anyone who disagrees with Jeffre is a HACK? Osborne’s been tagged as a hack. Amanda Matusak is yet another HACK.
And yet here’s the damned Pepto for kids again.
You know, anyone with a half of a wit, especially mindful parents, are going to ask the pediatrician about OTC meds for their children. There’s warnings published almost daily about what should not be given to children. The latest is the cough syrup business.
And as long as Kevin Osborne is collecting a paycheck, I believe he’ll write what’s agreed upon at the staff meeting. I don’t see how what he writes in terms of propaganda is any different from what the Beacon has been hashing out these last weeks.
We’re still waiting for this Neighborhood Rescue Plan that Dean crowed about from the Jeffre camp. To date, we haven’t seen spit. Just more Jeffre rants.
25 Oct 2007 at 10:55 pm | #
I hate this crap - who cares about this one article? It will make no difference in the election.
25 Oct 2007 at 11:12 pm | #
Glad to see you Kevin. I was at three forums tonight and didn’t see you at the NAACP, AMOS or the other one with three different community councils.
I guess you were busy blogging about rumors. So please, tell us who this guy is and where his alleged comments are.
25 Oct 2007 at 11:29 pm | #
Kevin, the first link is to a story by Gregory Flannery. The second one you wrote, but were you actually there? The others are to links that don’t work. So basically you’ve made a half ass defense of City Beat and that’s about it, but I’ll stop there.
Please answer my question from my last comment sir!
26 Oct 2007 at 12:11 am | #
Wrong again “dean”. Average parents read lables before giving their children medications. You obviously don’t; that makes you a below average parent.
26 Oct 2007 at 06:19 am | #
Read this.
I’m so glad you are comfortable, behind your keyboard, and probably with no children of your own, talking about how parents should read labels.
And you know what? They should. But they don’t. And that is not the fault of a child, whose life is on the line.
Your disregard for the safety of children is truly disgusting.
26 Oct 2007 at 08:21 am | #
JJ311: “Glad to see you Kevin. I was at three forums tonight and didn’t see you at the NAACP, AMOS or the other one with three different community councils.”
Did you do your usual late arrival, spend ten minutes in the back row, and then leave early?
26 Oct 2007 at 11:33 am | #
Jones, you are a cowardly troll. Amanda Matusak is a corporate hack because she pushes corporate propaganda on innocent children. I’m not aware of her criticizing me. I think you’re full of it.
Kevin Osbourne is a partisan hack for the corporate Democrats. He wrote an article early about comments from Brian Griffin and a bunch of anonymous trolls like you calling them pundits.
I’m sorry Kevin, but shouldn’t you have to have the courage to leave your name behind your slanderous lies in order to be called a pundit? And shouldn’t you know how to use spell check?
26 Oct 2007 at 11:42 am | #
Ummmm, I have used my name on everything I have posted. But thanks for your concern. Paranoid much?
(And if we’re going to criticize grammar and such, you should know that it’s only appropriate for 10-year-old girls to use multiple exclamation points after a sentence.)
26 Oct 2007 at 12:23 pm | #
No, Kevin, you did not read the comment properly. Justin said that, in order to qualify for the label “pundit,” one should leave one’s name attached to comments. He says you called critics of his “pundits,” when really these were anonymous blog comments.
He did not criticize your grammer, but Brian Griffin’s. However, if we are going to take issue with someone else taking issue with grammar—or with someone’s use of exclamation points—then you should probably spend a bit more time on your reading comprehension.
26 Oct 2007 at 01:19 pm | #
Jason,
Or perhaps Jeffre didn’t state his point clearly. (Maybe I should’ve written, “Or perhaps Jeffre didn’t state his point clearly!!!")
Anyhow, I respect much of what you do on this blog but—in my opinion—you are prone to hypocrisy and double standards from time to time.
Case in point: Look at your recent blog item trying to lure Democratic voters from Berding to Jeffre. It cites “word on the street” as a source, and that’s it. Shouldn’t you be more specific, too?
Another example: You and Jeffre routinely refer to The Enquirer as the “adpaper.” Nowadays, you’re soliciting ads for the Beacon’s print edition. If it’s OK for the Beacon, isn’t it OK for The Enquirer? Should we refer to the Beacon as an “adpaper” instead of a “newspaper?”
I don’t mind criticism. I expect it, given my job. You all should expect it from time to time, too, instead of being so thin-skinned.
26 Oct 2007 at 02:30 pm | #
Jeffre, a politician you’re not. And your gutter snipe attitude has cost you plenty of votes. This name-calling has circulated around many offices & plants in the city. You won’t break the top 15.
You don’t want to know exactly the terminology I have for you; certainly you don’t care, & that’s exactly why you aren’t political timbre. After November 6, go get another job & get gone. And somewhere along the way, you should think about growing up.
If parents are too damned stupid to read labels & consult with pediatricians, then the injuries to their children are on them. As with everything else, including salad in the bag, it’s buyer beware.
One other thing, Jeffre - take your non-existent Neighborhood Rescue Plan & shove it up your extra large sissy twat. The story on the street is there isn’t such a plan & you’re blowing smoke up the azzes of residents who own their homes & are toughing it out amidst the criminals & freeloaders you are pandering to.
26 Oct 2007 at 03:30 pm | #
What’s funny is that there are local politicians leaving troll anon comments too. I’m sure that story is also making the rounds, but you have nothing to say about that.
26 Oct 2007 at 04:06 pm | #
Kevin, I apologize, I didn’t make myself clear and I wasn’t trying to imply that you were leaving comments anonymously. What I was trying to say is that you referred to anonymous commenter’s and Brian Griffin as “pundits”. I wasn’t trying to imply that you can’t spell or that you leave anonymous comments. I was trying to say that you shouldn’t have referred to them as “pundits”.
That should’ve read;
“I’m sorry Kevin, but shouldn’t they have to have the courage to leave their name behind their slanderous lies in order to be called a “pundit”? And shouldn’t a “pundit” know how to use spell check?”
I guess I was a little tired from all the events I attended yesterday and didn’t make myself clear. I do apologize for that.
Freeman McNeil from the CDC told me he’s been public about out it the other night and he said he is willing to go on the record that he endorses me over Jeff Berding.
Kevin, your paper and the Enquirer are full of ads. Our paper is filled with more quality content and fewer ads. Our project isn’t about making money, it’s about giving voice to the voiceless and covering things nobody else does. I will admit that a monthly is a lot easier than a weekly or a daily and City Beat is far superior to Cin Weekly.
The bottom line is that this isn’t about us, this is about you Kevin. You’re supposed to be the professional journalist and you started all of this with your gossip column.
With just 13 days until the election, you wrote a post about a bunch of rumors and made a petty and unsubstantiated allegation that my article regarding health concerns for children caused by branding confusion from a corporate propagandist was a petty attack on some guy I don’t know. I have never seen any of these alleged comments.
If you want to save your credibility Mr. Osbourne, then you’re going to have to tell us who this person is and where these alleged comments were written. This isn’t going to go away Kevin. I demand an answer or I’m going to have to turn up the heat on you. (I always respected your work and it’s a shame it has come to this!)
I’ll repeat the question for you sir. Who is Greg Matusak and where are the comments he allegedly made?
Your deadline is 1pm tomorrow.
26 Oct 2007 at 04:45 pm | #
Dean- Is this thread a put on, performance art, or am I just too stoned?
26 Oct 2007 at 05:00 pm | #
The safety of children is no joke. Anonymous trolls trying to make this a political issue keep saying that parents should read labels. But I’m sorry—the reading of a label should not make the difference between life and death for children!
As has been shown with links to the FDA and others, branding confusion is a real problem—and even medical professionals make these kinds of screw ups.
That’s the issue here, and it is a real issue—and anyone who claims otherwise is playing politics with the lives of innocent children.
26 Oct 2007 at 07:34 pm | #
People have seen them. People have read them. The voters will decide on Nov. 6. Jeffre is the biggest laugh we’ve had in 2 years. It’s nice to see an individual in the political mix that creates humor from his crass attitude.
I’m not making this a political issue. It’s a parental responsibility issue. Read the label before purchasing. Talk with the pediatrician before reading the label. Due to irresponsible parents, there’s a whole crop of ill children who will never be well. And due to irresponsible parents, there are criminals. I will stand firm on that belief & principle.
27 Oct 2007 at 07:14 am | #
JJ #22: “If you want to save your credibility Mr. Osbourne, then you’re going to have to tell us who this person is and where these alleged comments were written. This isn’t going to go away Kevin. I demand an answer or I’m going to have to turn up the heat on you. (I always respected your work and it’s a shame it has come to this!)”
Kevin, I wouldn’t worry about your credibility suffering at the hands of Justin and the gang of “media activists” here at the Bacon. They operate more like thugs than responsible journalists, and I believe the majority of readers see that. Have you ever noticed how Jeffre always refers to the Bacon as a “project”? That’s not really the truth, as it is more of a political soap box for him and Patton; with Jason acting as the political attack dog. I would recommend, that since Justin has threatened to turn up the heat on you, keep a sweater handy, in case you catch a chill.
27 Oct 2007 at 12:22 pm | #
Time is up Kevin. You shouldn’t be spreading rumors about the campaign trail when you haven’t bothered to show up on it. Now it’s on!!!
27 Oct 2007 at 01:17 pm | #
Oh, 98ºJJ DEMANDS!! Bring it on asshat.
27 Oct 2007 at 05:01 pm | #
Better watch out Kevin, 98ºboy™ is going to “get” you! The thought of 8mpg RV driving “environmentalist” 98ºboy™ attacking anyones credibility is just so laughable, because he has none himself. He’s a 1st class clown.
30 Oct 2007 at 08:17 am | #
I only see four names on this thread. Only three of those are registered so #4 may be fake as well. There is a lot of trash about reading labels but nothing of substance. It would be nice if the “pundits” had something to say other than grammer and spelling errors.
The blog trolls are a busy lot and will be gone by Tuesday, Thank God. I guess we will see all you clever linguists next election. In the mean time climb back into your corporate cubicle and go back to sleep.
Kevin Korte needs a real job.
30 Oct 2007 at 10:43 pm | #
Thanks Fake Anon #30: We’ll see you next year! Enjoy your cubicle.
Oh, by the way the person of interest is Kevin Osborne; not Korte.