[Press coverage of medical issues].

We assessed the coverage of medical issues in six Norwegian newspapers during the period January - March 1995. A majority of the articles and a minority of the letters presented neutral information about the national health system. 13% of the articles and 61% of the letters were, in our opinion, critical. Only 2% and 5%, respectively, conveyed unequivocally positive attitudes. In at least three out of 11 incidents, the journalists violated the ethical rules commonly accepted by members of the press for criticism of named health workers. In 503 major articles overall correctness of the medical information, as judged by the authors, was 85% and varied between newspapers (top 98%, bottom 70%). We conclude that health workers are more likely to be criticised than praised. The credibility of the medical information varied from one newspaper to another.