One day before a health study appeared in the "New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)" the study was reported media. A content analysis of the top 5 national newspapers examined the accuracy of this news reporting. The NEJM study found that men who took aspirin had 50% fewer heart attacks than men who received a placebo. Analysis of the original study and the news articles about the study showed that journalists did not present the research methodology correctly, and omitted and sensationalized information from both the formal study and the medical professionals they interviewed. Results also indicated that by incorrectly generalizing the results and by overemphasizing the importance of the study, journalists may have been responsible for encouraging unhealthy or even deadly behaviors. (One table of data is included; 27 references are attached.) (PRA)