Health experts help TV docs get facts straight

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - That young mother with breast cancer on "Grey's Anatomy" may do more than just drive the storyline: She may also be teaching you something.

Recognizing the reach of popular television shows, real-life doctors and public health experts are at work behind the scenes to add a dose of education to entertainment.

"Viewers get a lot of health information from TV shows. That's why we want to work with the writers to make sure it's accurate," said Vicki Beck, who directs a government-funded project that connects TV scriptwriters with medical experts.

More than half of regular viewers reported learning something about a disease from a daytime or prime-time drama, according to an analysis of data from a 2001 survey by public relations company Porter Novelli.

Findings like that caught the eye of government health officials, advocacy groups and academic physicians, who saw a compelling way to get medical information to millions.

Now, doctors regularly consult for hospital dramas "Grey's Anatomy" and "ER" plus "Desperate Housewives" and other non-medical hits that weave in health storylines. They also help fictional doctors on "General Hospital" and other daytime soap operas sound like the real thing.

Medical experts answer questions about everything from what drugs a patient would take to how a person could survive a gunshot to the head.

Advocates also brief shows on hot topics that may spark ideas for future plotlines.

"We've had some very nice outcomes," said Mike Miller, senior science writer at the National Cancer Institute, between a meeting with staff from "ER" and a meeting with staff from another medical hit, "House."

CANCER SCREENING

Real-world experts provided information to "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy" before each aired storylines about women with a gene that raises breast-cancer risk, he said.

Viewers who saw both episodes knew more about the gene afterward and were more likely to take steps to get screened for breast cancer, University of Southern California researchers found.

The cancer institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and two other federal agencies fund Beck's program, called Hollywood, Health & Society and based at the university's Annenberg Norman Lear Center. The group has fielded more than 400 requests from TV shows in the past two years.

Transplant officials joined on after growing frustrated by portrayals of kidneys being sold on a black market or a well-connected patient moving up on a waiting list.

There is no evidence of either happening in the United States, say experts, who worry such unrealistic depictions may discourage organ donation.