TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: The story mentioned that the cost of this drug treatment was several thousand dollars a month and that this was higher than the costs of other treatments. It would have been better to provide a more concrete estimate of costs (several thousand – does this mean 2,3 or 6 thousand?). The story might have included some information about additional costs that would be encountered with the comparison treatment such as the cost of intraveneous infusions, testing to  evaluate side-effects, and other connected costs. The story did a good job reporting the data comparing patient survival with Iressa as compared to individuals treated with IV chemotherapy. The story skimmed over the side effects; reducing the frequency of bothersome or life threatening side effects would seem to be an advantage. The story mentioned quality of life factors that appear to be better with Iressa but did not  quantify the benefit observed. Borderline satisfactory. The story listed the common side effects of the treatment though it failed to indicate the frequency with which these were seen. In addition, rather than than merely listing these, the story could have included some information about the severity of the side effects (i.e. bothersome vs. fatal). The story provided information about the size of the study conducted, the nature of the patients that were enrolled, and that the drug company that markets the drug funded the study. The study was designed as a non-inferiority survival trial to compare this medication with docotaxel, a chemotherapy treatment often used in individuals who have lung cancer and have had platinum based treatment but who are experiencing a return of their cancer. (While the story did provide information about the survival outcomes, it also included information comparing side effects.) The story ended with a comment from one of the interviewed clinicians about quality of life being better with Iressa. The story should have been clearer about the predetermined endpoint of the study (longevity) and should not have ended with less data driven information. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. However the headline does not hint that the trial is not about first-line cancer treatment, rather just patients who have been treated previously with a platinum-based chemotherapy. The story included quotes from two individuals identified as not being connected with the study reported upon but with relevant expertise. The story provided information about two treatment options for individuals who have recurrence of a previously treated lung cancer. It did not provide information about the natural history of not undergoing additional treatment for this condition which is necessary for evaluating the relative merit of the two treatments discussed. The story did not mention radiation and surgery which are both options for some limited cancers. The story mentions that the medication Iressa (gefitinib) is sold in the United States but that its availability in Europe is limited. The story presented the use of Iressa as a treatment of individuals with lung cancer who had previously been treated with a platinum-based regimen as though it was a novel application. However – this drug was approved by the FDA in 2003 for this purpose. While the results of study reported on are interesting, the story did not provide the reader with a realistic picture of about the novelty of this product. Does not appear to rely on a press release.

SOLUTION: Pill as good as chemo on lung cancer, but costlier

PROBLEM: "The article does not mention costs. The story provides absolute proportions of children who were overweight or obese at 5 or 7 years old. Groups compared included children of those mothers with normal glucose levels, children of those with a diabetes diagnosis who were treated, and children of those with high blood sugar levels who were not treated. Although it’s not entirely clear which group actually received treatment. The study does not mention any harms of treatment for high blood sugar, which could potentially include severe episodes of low blood sugar (if treated with insulin). Would also have been helpful to say more about the lifestyle/nutrition interventions and to note that they have not been found to cause harm, though the effects of materal stress/worry and the costs of blood glucose monitoring are not well studied. The story does not make it clear what type of evidence the findings are based on. For instance, it’s not clear if results are from a randomized trial (the gold standard) or some other study design. An astute reader may be able to infer that this is not a randomized clinical trial from the statement that data were ""analyzed"", but one also doesn’t know if the design was prospective or retrospective, which would add to knowledge about the strength of the study. The fact that we actually don’t know what treatment women actually got is also not clearly discussed. There is no obvious embellishment or mistatement about gestational diabetes. The article provides a brief, but accurate description of what it is. The lead line ""women who develop diabetes during pregnancy"" is somewhat misleading because without clarification of the often transient nature of gestational diabetes, readers could think it means Type II diabetes – women who develop and continue to have diabetes. It would be preferable to define and use the term gestational diabetes or pregnancy-related diabetes much earlier. There is a quote from a researcher at Northwestern University who apparently is not affiliated with the latest findings. The story mentions treatment approaches of gestational diabetes, including diet, exercise, and insulin, which are appropriate. The article does not note the option of not treating (especially in the lower range) which is advocated by some. Assuming ""treatment"" in this case is ""exercise, a special diet, or insulin,"" the article does imply that these are available. Most, if not all, people will understand that treatment for high blood sugar is readily available. What’s new is that treatment of women with blood sugar that is high, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes, may benefit from treatment with exercise, diet, or insulin as well. A more important wrinkle in this particular study is that ""treatment"" is inferred by practice patterns used at Kaiser and no individual-level data is available to determine if the women in the group that would have been provided with counseling/intervention of gestational diabetes actually received that counsel or acted on it. Thus the ""treated group"" is actually those who met gestational diabetes criteria by National Diabetes Data Group criteria – thus they are really the treatment eligible group among whom some (likely large) group received some completely not specified treatment. Treatment for gestational diabetes is not new, although the story does not explicitly state this. What the story implies is that diagnosis and treatment of diabetes at lower blood sugar thresholds than those currently treated may have a benefit for children, although more studies are needed. Diagnosing and treating more pregnant women with high blood sugar who don’t necessarily meet the traditional diabetes diagnosis would be new and there is some discussion around this. Since the story used at least one independent perspective, it does not appear to have relied soley or largely on a news release."

SOLUTION: Diabetes care during pregnancy reduces risk of obese children

PROBLEM: The state Supreme Judicial Court said in an order released Friday that Monday’s planned court hearing in an appeal brought by the Vapor Technology Association will be postponed until further notice. The court is awaiting the results of new vaping regulations the state plans to issue next week before making a decision on the case. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last week signed into law new restrictions on flavored tobacco and vaping products and promised to rescind the state’s emergency ban of the sale of all vaping products. Baker said the state’s Public Health Council will meet Wednesday to adopt new regulations as part of the new state law, at which point he’ll lift the emergency ban. The ban was imposed in September and set to last until the end of December. Neighboring Rhode Island also has a temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order in September and the health department issued emergency regulations Oct. 4 to implement a four-month ban, with an optional two-month extension. Rhode Island lawmakers have said they’ll address vaping in the next legislative session, which begins in January. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut is trying to figure out how to regulate vaping, after expressing an interest in banning flavored vaping products. A new law recently took effect in Connecticut that increased the age to 21 for someone to purchase vaping products.

SOLUTION:
Massachusetts high court delays hearing on vaping ban suit.