Journalism: When fictional news is life threatening – #CNBC earns an F for reckless errors in reporting

Journalism: When fictional news is life threatening – #CNBC earns an F for reckless errors in reporting

CNBC tops the fictional news genre in an article about the shortage of epinephrine auto-injectors (also known by the brand name Epi-Pen).

They illustrate the article with this photo – do you spot the problem?

The problem is that auto injectors are injected in to the leg’s thigh muscle, not into the arm.

(See Patient Information Epinephrine Auto Injector)

Considering that bystanders, particularly in situations involving children, may use the child’s auto injector but not be familiar with the device instructions, this sort of reporting by CNBC is dangerous and reckless.

CNBC could not even pick an accurate photo – in this case the photo they selected from Getty Images is clearly labeled as a nurse, in France, injecting a diabetic child with insulin. Insulin dependent diabetics may have insulin injected frequently, and the subcutaneous injections may be rotated to sites around the body (including the arm) to avoid the irritation of injecting in the same place over and over again.

Yet CNBC falsely captions the photo saying it is a child receiving an Epi-Pen injection. They knowingly and intentionally falsified the caption.

Shame on CNBC’s fictional news reporting. They cannot get the simplest of details correct – how can we trust what they report? Lazy reporting will be labeled what it is – this is “fake news”. In this case, their laziness is potentially life threatening as they recklessly misinform the public.

(Note – I have food allergies and carry 4 medications including an auto injector.)

This post appeared first in August of 2018 and has been updated due to some URL link changes.

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