Steven Woloshin on drug ads

Steven Woloshin, who is Professor of Medicine at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, recently published an op-ed in The Washington Post on the subject of drug ads. Professor Woloshin teaches Science, Statistics, and Health Communication (QSS 30.25) in Dartmouth's Program in Quantitative Social Science.  In his op-ed, Professor Woloshin and co-author Baruch Fischhoff of Carnegie Mellon University argue that the FDA has to do more to help Americans understand how well prescription drugs work.  They argue for routine user testing of drug advertising and implementation of the drug facts box, a validated method for summarizing drug benefits, harms and uncertainties.

The op-ed is available here.

Professor Woloshin first taught QSS 30.25 in Winter 2025, and he is teaching this course in Spring 2026 as well.  The key goals of the course are to enhance students' critical thinking and related quantitative skills, encourage a sense of healthy skepticism, and foster the confidence to apply it.  Professor Woloshin has worked at Dartmouth since 1994, and in 2019 he founded the Lisa Schwartz Institute for Truth in Medicine.