MEDIA
Questions readers have been asking lately
Why should veterinarians and others care about press ethics?
If the only place where the leaders of your professional association and their staff experts paid to address all the critical issues facing the profession will discuss these issues is with a “news service” that assures them of this kind of carefully scripted platform, it becomes that much harder for policymakers, animal health professionals, students, fellow veterinarians, and those you serve to get credible, accountable information. And if all other reporters have to submit questions only to the AVMA PR office, which can then craft the organization’s official answers, this only compounds the problem.
Both Kremlin-like practices allow AVMA officials to avoid the test of putting their views to people who will ask them straight questions and report what they actually say, not what they or the organization wish, on reflection, that they had said.
Dodo partner Petplan calls veterinary professionals “moral hazard”
Last Friday, we reported that pet health insurer Petplan — now rebranded as “Fetch by the Dodo” to reflect its new partnership with The Dodo, the animal-loving viral video blog – had started rolling out an exclusion in its policy that slashes coverage options for veterinary professionals. Now we can report that the insurer explained the move by declaring veterinary professionals a “moral hazard/fraud [risk]” in the cover letter of the filing we reported last week.
Media elites behind Dodo, NYMag, Vox stay silent as insurance partner Petplan slashes discounted coverage for vet professionals
Why Would Petplan Slash Coverage For Veterinary Professionals?
Are veterinary professionals not the people a pet insurance provider would want on its good side for client referrals? Actuary data shows that veterinary professionals tend to adopt “what we consider ‘lemons’ as their companions,” explained Margi Tooth, the President of Trupanion, a Petplan competitor which does not have the same exclusion. “What this inevitably means,” she added, “is that their pets have a higher rate of utilization that the average pet owner. There’s no conspiracy here – it’s a profession that can’t face putting a pet to sleep that could be saved – so when an owner walks in with a sick pet that they can’t afford to treat, they’re often adopted by the team in the hospital. These folks are heroes on many levels.”
Seresto Under Siege on Capitol Hill as ‘Investigative Reporter’ and Dems Team Up, Renewing Calls to Recall ‘Killer’ Collars
The blockbuster Seresto flea-and-tick collar was skewered by lawmakers yesterday, who renewed their calls for parent company Elanco Animal Health, Inc. to pull the collars from shelves during a hearing held by the House Committee on Oversight & Reform, Subcommittee on Economic & Consumer Policy. The hearing, whose title was “Seresto Flea and Tick Collars: […]
USA Today writes another hit job on Seresto; ‘investigative’ report fails to seek comment; vets continue to be ignored
Just over a year ago, on March 2, 2021, USA Today, whose parent company Gannett became America’s largest newspaper publisher when it merged with Gatehouse in 2019, printed a thinly sourced story declaring one of America’s most popular pet products, Seresto flea and tick collars, to be killer collars. The story was castigated by veterinarians and other health professionals — including board-certified veterinary toxicologists we interviewed.
Press feasts on dog ‘death by rat urine’ lepto rumors — but NYC Health Dept. spox says no cases reported
This report has been updated to include a statement we received around 6pm ET on January 26 from acting press secretary Michael Lanza at NYC’s Department of Health: “The Health Department so far cannot confirm recent reports of canine leptospirosis related to McCarren Park. We have not received reports of leptospirosis in dogs from Brooklyn this year. The Health Department has reached out proactively to several veterinary hospitals in the area, none of which have seen cases so far this year.”
“‘Multiple’ dogs may have been sickened by rat-transmitted illness,” ABC affiliate WABC-TV reported Monday. However, in New York City, Health Department officials have not confirmed even one case involving the illness. And we’re not trying to pick on bloggers, but there’s a reason our only blogger is Nellie the Labrador: One blog declared a leptospirosis “outbreak” as early as last week, apparently scooping The Canine Review, and even The New York Times. In fact, the blogger’s source on “outbreak” is city councilman Lincoln Restler, who is not, in fact, on the payroll of any health department.
Petplan is now ‘Fetch by The Dodo’–which means policy holders can now complain to Ken Lerer, too
There is at least one piece of good news for Petplan (or ‘Fetch by The Dodo’) policy holders, which is that you now have a prominent New York media executive to rope in when you file complaints to departments of insurance: Ken Lerer
USA Today “updates” Seresto story without admitting corrections, even removing entire “Why this story matters” sidebar
USA Today editor Emily Le Coz reached out to Elanco this morning to inform the company that a September 24 story about Seresto flea and tick collars that Elanco had been disputing emphatically, and for which it began demanding corrections immediately after the story was published, has now been “updated” two weeks later, though without […]
Gannett punts questions about corrections arising from another dubious Seresto story to outsourced reporter who wrote it
Nearly a week after Seresto parent company Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) issued a letter demanding corrections to a USA Today story alleging Elanco covered up 11,000 adverse incident reports related to Seresto flea and tick collars–a product Elanco did not even own until more than half way through 2020 – Elanco finally received a response. However, […]
Petplan spox, CEO remain mum on rebrand plans with The Dodo touted one year ago
Internet sensation The Dodo and pet insurance provider Petplan appear to have dissolved plans to build a partnership. Both parties have refused repeated requests to comment since mid-September, and the Petplan camp has offered “no updates” since our story in April. Last October, the announcement was all but shouted from the rooftops: “Petplan, North America’s […]
