This document discusses the key tasks involved in writing effective medical press releases. It begins with an anecdote about how a press release the author wrote helped explain a medical procedure to their relative. The author then learned the importance of keeping real patients in mind when writing. The document outlines three essential tasks for transforming a medical brief into a press release: 1) Understanding what qualifies as news, 2) Fully comprehending medical terms and details, and 3) Writing in a way laypeople can understand. Subsequent sections will explain these tasks and offer techniques to help master them.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
Preface
I am a journalist-turned-freelance writer. During my journalism
days, I received at least half a dozen press releases a day via email.
Most of them had dull subject lines. Unless I was not desperate for a
story idea, I sent them instantly to my trash bin.
Today, I am a freelance writer. And, the roles are reversed. My chal-
lenge now is to ensure that my press releases see the light of the day.
I try to make them (and the subject lines of the emails I send) useful
and interesting for journalists.
I know well that a good press release can make a big difference to
a journalist’s work. And when they are used by media outlets, they
help the end readers, who are the general public and the patients,
understand health risks, make healthy lifestyle choices, and go for
the right healthcare services.
Press releases also help medical professionals, public health
experts, pharmaceutical firms, hospitals, and medical technology
companies clearly communicate their ideas and build great brands.
However writing press releases on a specialised subject like
medicine and healthcare can often feel daunting. I wrote this book
to share the steps and techniques involved in writing killer medical
press releases, and thus, make the endeavour less intimidating and
more fun.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
Though this book is meant mainly for public relations and
corporate communication professionals who work for the
healthcare sector, even healthcare professionals and journalists can
use the ideas for presenting medical news.
I look forward to receiving your comments and feedback. I can be
reached at sankar@sankarg.com.
G. Sankaranarayanan
www.sankarg.com

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
Naming Convention
This book contains examples of the press releases I wrote
for hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. To ensure the
confidentiality of my clients and their patients, I set the following
naming convention:
The name of the hospital is ‘Maya Clinic’, with one letter
differentiating it from the well-known Mayo Clinic. It is situated in
Cure-o-City. The patient is either Ms. Eve or Mr Adam. The fictional
‘Neverland’ is the country of origin for all foreign patients.
The surgeon (or physician) is identified as Dr. Shaun - in tribute to
the protagonist of the American medical drama ‘The Good
Doctor’. ‘Magic’ serves as the brand name for medicines and
medical equipment.
And you will find no datelines or real timeline details in the sample
press releases.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
1
PART ONE
ORIENTATION

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
The Real Life Impact of
Medical Press Releases
Writing a press release while keeping journalists in mind is not going to
help anybody. Instead, our primary focus should be on creating content
that resonates with real patients seeking reliable medical information.
Oneofmybrothers-in-lawhadpartialvisionlossinhisrighteye.
Doctors at a super specialty hospital diagnosed the condition
as a neurological problem. There was a tumour growing beneath his
skull, obstructing the signal transmission between the affected eye
and the brain.
The hospital informed him that neurosurgery was the only option.
But, we were worried, considering the high risk nature of the
procedure. At this time, I received an assignment from a multispe-
cialty hospital to write a press release on a surgery they performed
for a patient to correct her ‘double vision’. Coincidentally, it was
a neurosurgery, known as ‘Endoscopic Transnasal Transpterygoid
Excision’, exactly the same one recommended for my brother-in
-law, as even in this patient’s case, the underlying cause was a
tumour located beneath the skull.
I naturally took a special interest in writing that release. I
interacted with the medical team and collected all important
information about the specific risks and the expected outcomes.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
And when I wrote the release, I kept my brother-in-law in mind.
He is a school drop out. I wanted him to find the release both
understandable, and useful.
Given below is the lead paragraph of the press release (names are
changed, as per the convention set for this book):
“In a first in Cure-O-City, Maya Clinic, performed a
pinhole neurosurgery, known as “Endoscopic Transnasal
Transpterygoid Excision” and removed a tumour from
under the skull of a 40-year old lady which was causing
her ‘double vision’ - the condition of seeing two images in-
stead of one. The medical team used high-end imaging and
navigation-control tools for the surgery that significantly
mitigated the risks of any potential harm to the adjacent
regions of her brain.”
In the subsequent paragraphs, I used quotations to elaborate the
risks involved in the surgery and the efforts taken by the medical
team to enhance the safety of the patient’s brain:
Commenting about the surgery, Dr Shaun said: “Neuro-
surgery involving tumours is the most challenging of all
surgeries done on the human body. Because there is always
a chance of the nervous system getting damaged during the
surgery. The risks are higher when tumours are located in
difficult-to-operate regions under the skull, as was the case
with this patient. But, we used a variety of sophisticated
tools and systems for the safety of the brain. One of them is
known as intraoperative neuroimaging. This technology let
us constantly monitor the patient's nervous system, while
we were performing the surgery. And we also used neuro-

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
navigation, a system that helped us in tracking and the pre-
cise placement of surgical instruments.”
Dr Shaun further added: “We made a pinhole opening in the
dura mater, the protective membrane enveloping the brain,
to access the tumour. After we removed the tumour, we
effectively sealed the pinhole using an artificial material, so
that there will be no risk of future infections.”
My brother-in-law and his family could get a better picture
about the surgery, after going through the release. But it was a
different story that later the doctors decided that the surgery was
unnecessary. His condition improved solely through medicines.
This particular assignment turned out to be a valuable learning
experience for me. For the first time, I saw a real patient benefiting
directly from a press release I wrote. It served as a powerful
reminder that I should always keep in mind real patients - rather
than journalists, when writing press releases. For, there are always
people in the real world who are in desperate need of reliable
medical information to make informed decisions for their health.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
Three Essential Tasks in
Writing a Medical Press Release
The process of turning a brief from medical experts into a valuable,
understandable, and captivating press release can be streamlined.
Writing medical press releases for mass media is a
specialisation. It is not just about writing but doing so
while adhering to news formats. The content should also be
relevant (“newsworthy”), and readable. Hence, hospitals usually
hire professional support. While doctors provide briefs, writers use
these briefs to craft press releases. But the briefs are usually cryp-
tic. Following is an excerpt from a brief I received on the successful
completion of a surgery:
“She [the patient] had a tear in the wall of an artery causing
pseudoaneurysm and dissection. This will lead to life threatening
haemorrhage in which many patients die or survive with
severe disability. Endovascular treatment of the injury with Flow
diverter device and near total reconstruction of internal carotid
artery was done repairing the damaged segment. Long segment
Endovascular arterial flow diverter reconstruction for arterial
injury is the first of its kind in our state. Followed by transnasal
endoscopic haemostasis and nasal pack removal, the patient
recovered completely.”

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
When I read it first I could understand that the patient had
some severe problem with one of her arteries, and the medical team
accomplished a “breakthrough” with some rare surgical procedure
and saved her life. That’s all. But it took hours of reading, and
interviewing for me to get the whole picture, and understand that
the brief could become an engaging news story. Following is the
final press release:
Maya Clinic Reconstructs a Damaged Artery under the
Skull of a Woman and Eliminates Her Risk of Stroke
In a first in Cure-o-City, Maya Clinic performed a specialised
neurosurgery on a 56-year old woman recently to recon-
struct a damaged artery, located under the skull, and thus
eliminated the risk of internal bleeding and stroke in the
future. The surgery, known as endovascular neurosurgery,
went off without a hitch.
Endovascular means “inside a blood vessel”. Endovascular
neurosurgery is performed by inserting a long, thin tube
(known as ‘catheter’) into an easily accessible artery,
typically in the groin or arm, and guiding it to the affected
artery within the brain or spinal cord.
For the patient, Ms. Eve, a mother of two, it all started
with the onset of partial vision loss in one eye about three
months ago. Her ophthalmologist thought it was a cataract
problem. Hence, she was recommended to go for a cataract
surgery. However, even after the procedure, her vision did
not improve. Weeks later, Ms. Eve consulted a neurosurgeon
in a local hospital who accurately diagnosed the underlying
problem. The root cause was a brain tumour ('Tuberculum

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
Sellae Meningiomas'), situated close to the pituitary gland,
obstructing the blood supply to the eye.
Toremovethetumour,thesurgeonperformedanendoscop-
ic surgery. But during the surgery, the patient unexpectedly
developed severe internal bleeding. The surgeon could not
find the exact source. Hence, he immediately aborted the
surgery and controlled the bleeding from the nose using a
technique called ‘nasal packing’. Ms. Eve was then rushed to
Maya Clinic for an emergency endovascular treatment.
Doctors at Maya Clinic carried out a cerebral angiogram,
a specialised X-ray procedure aimed at assessing blood
vessels, and found that the source of the bleeding was an
artery under the skull (‘internal carotid artery’). The artery
alsohadabulgeinitswall,aconditionknownas‘aneurysm’.
The bulge was of such considerable size that it could burst
anytime, and result in a haemorrhage which could lead to
life-threatening stroke. In this context, repairing the artery
became an urgent and important task, rather than removing
the tumour.
The surgical team led by Dr Shaun performed an advanced
endovascular neurosurgery and achieved a nearly complete
reconstruction of the internal carotid artery. The surgery
lasted for one and a half hours. In yet another first, the
surgical team used ‘Flow Diverters’, a latest method to
redirect the blood flow away from the affected artery, to
better facilitate the surgical process. The team comprised
experts in neuro endovascular, neuroendoscopy, ENT, and
neuroanaesthesia departments. The surgery went event-
less. Post surgery, the patient was kept in the ICU for

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
48 hours to monitor neurological functions. As there
were no abnormalities, the patient was discharged within
a few days.
Talking about this rare surgery, Dr Shaun said, “Injury to an
artery under the skull is a life threatening condition. If the
artery is not repaired immediately, it can result in bleeding
and the patient can have a stroke anytime. Ms. Eve’s case
was no different. Hence, we reconstructed her artery
using an advanced endovascular neurosurgery. As it is, the
procedure is intricate and demanding. Compounding the
challenge was the presence of injuries in two distinct
segments of the artery. But we had a competent team and
could perform the surgery successfully. We expect the
reconstructed artery to fully heal within a span of a few
months.”
Ms. Eve is now leading a normal life. However, she will need
medical check-ups and medication for about six months.
After which, she would be ready to undergo the surgery for
the removal of the tumour.
The brief indeed had all the information about the people,
challenges, and triumphs. There were details about complex
medical problems, episodes of unexpected developments, and
timely application of surgical innovations. But these elements
remained hidden behind jargon and obscure expressions. The press
release has simply brought them out and presented them to the
public in the language they can understand.
For such a transformation of a brief into useful, comprehensible,
and engaging narrative, a writer has to do three essential tasks.

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How Not to Kill a Medical Press Release
They are:
1. Understanding what is news
2. Knowing the meaning of medical terms and get the
complete picture, and
3. Writing in layperson’s language
The subsequent sections of the book explains these three tasks and
their sub-tasks. The book also offers techniques, practical tips, and
examples to help you master these tasks.