Public Service or Public Relations at Rex?

With drug companies advertising directly to consumers and medical device makers pushing the latest technology, it’s difficult for people to sort through all of the health care hype and get objective information.

And now Rex Healthcare in Raleigh and NBC 17 are contributing to the problem with the television show “Rex on Call .” Former television reporter and current Rex spokeswoman Melody Hunter-Pillion hosts the program that ostensibly provides health care advice but acts as little more than an advertisement for services offered by Rex.

A recent program on bariatric surgery never mentioned a single risk of the procedure. Instead, the show featured a bariatric surgeon, now there’s an objective source, and a Clayton couple who gushed about the weight they shed after going under the knife.

The misleading Rex on Call model will undoubtedly spread as the show recently won a national award from PR Week magazine for “Best Use of Broadcast.” One judge even noted, “It also gets bonus points as it bridged the gap between a PSA and paid placement.”

Of course, most of us don’t want the line blurred between objective and helpful public service announcements and paid ads – that only makes getting reliable information more difficult. And what’s good for Rex is not necessarily good for consumers.

According to the schedule, the next Rex on Call broadcast will feature new cancer treatments and a piece of science fiction sounding technology called the CyberKnife housed at UNC Health Care, which owns Rex. I’m not sure what risks the CyberKnife pose – it could be a great advance in cancer care – but I doubt we’ll find out anything useful from the Rex infomercial.