by Tom Shales

About the author: Tom Shales is a television critic and editor for the Washington Post.

TV news doesn't really cover the field of medicine. Instead it goes about the business of fomenting hysteria. Sometimes it's a kind of benign hysteria, the careless spreading of false hope by reporting on some small advance in scientific research that may or may not result in a medical breakthrough three, six, 10 or 20 years down the pike. Don't hold your breath, as the saying goes.

But what the TV news boys and girls really love is a hot juicy story that spreads fear and loathing about drugs and their dangers, real or imagined. Apparently it's good box-office—that is, good for ratings—to air stories that demonize a particular drug and at the same time help to popularize...