ABSTRACT
Q: What was the effect of NBC Today anchor Katie Couric undergoing a colonoscopy on national television in March 2000?
A: According to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, colonoscopy rates in the U.S. jumped over 20% after the nation saw the inside of Katie’s bowels on TV. With colon cancer almost always curable if detected early but still the second leading cause of cancer deaths, Katie undoubtedly saved many lives. Incidentally, this was not an idle publicity stunt; Counts husband had recently died at 42 from colon cancer and Katie was determined to save others the heartbreak that her family had suffered (Bjerklie, 2003).
