December 2011
66 posts
Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths... →
Part of a year-long ProPublic investigation into coroner and medical examiner offices. Also see lessons about covering senior health from investigative reporter for The Seattle Times, Michael J. Berens.
WatchRead more at the Tampa Bay Times special report: If I Die Young: Struggling with recovery from addiction
“So if you want to enjoy a happier, healthier 2012, it’s very easy. Just...”
– Lenore Skenazy: Boozy Babies and Other Overhyped Panics - WSJ.com
“Doctors already query patients about whether they drink, use tobacco or are up...”
– From RoH member Anne Polta’s thought-provoking post Social media use: the new risk factor? at HealthBeat.
Pitch Perfect →
Real examples of pitches for health stories that made it into magazines, with tips for better pitching from The Open Notebook.
“The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared the...”
– The Champion of Painkillers, by RoH members Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber at ProPublica
Mentally ill flood ER as states cut services →
By Julie Steenhuysen and Jillian Mincer for Reuters.
Why patients are turning less to media and friends... →
More information isn’t always better, reports Pamela Lewis Dolan in American Medical News.
“If you have friends and relatives that you deeply care about and they live...”
– Mayor Michael Bloomberg, quoted by Kate Taylor in The New York Times: New Yorkers’ Life Expectancy Reaches 80.6 Years, Higher Than National Rate
“Hospital billboards are claiming short wait times in emergency rooms — although...”
– Short ER wait times? Billboards tout hospitals’ claims - Business - MiamiHerald.com
Journalist's Toolbox Update →
A megalist of great resources — everything from mapping to finding a job in journalism to great copy editing — from the Society of Professional Journalists.
“A doc fix is looking like an increasingly unlikely holiday present for the...”
– Again? This happens every year.
Will Santa Bring a Last-Minute Doc Fix? - Health Blog - WSJ
The Placebo Debate: Is It Unethical to Prescribe... →
By RoH member Elaine Schattner in The Atlantic
WatchGreat story from California Watch on the troubled Prime hospital chain’s suspect billing practices (via Video: Tapping into Medicare’s gold mine? | California Watch)
“SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A man from the San Francisco Bay area has fathered 14...”
– Feds issue warning to unconventional sperm donor - Yahoo! News
“Depending on who is asked, banning smoking in public housing is either an...”
– Public Housing Authorities Increasingly Ban Indoor Smoking - NYTimes.com
“The journalists from big name organizations better move over. The notebook or...”
– RoH member Andrew Schorr writes about changes in how we get health information: Patient-Journalists Multiply at a Major Medical Conference
Loma Linda Frets About Unhealthy Inroads →
In The New York Times, Jennifer Medina reports on a very healthy California city that will now be home to its first McDonald’s.
“His wife standing next to him, Clyde Cressler kissed another woman on the dance...”
– Great lead, great story in The Patriot-News by Ed Komenda: The Dancer: A man finds cure for symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease in ballroom dancing
“By age 23, up to 41 percent of American adolescents and young adults have been...”
– From “Arrests Increasing for U.S. Youth” by Carrie Gann (ABC News). H/T @HealthyCal
“The sixth most populous country in a world that recently surpassed 7 billion...”
– Family planning is a hard sell in Pakistan by Karin Brulliard in the Washington Post
“On a much-too-regular basis, the disease serves me up with a teasing special of...”
– Christopher Hitchens, who died yesterday after battling esophageal cancer, writes about living with the disease: Christopher Hitchens: Unspoken Truths | Culture | Vanity Fair (h/t) Medical Lessons blog
“Atlanta is aiming to be the first city in the country to use “environmental”...”
– Interesting…
Better health, byte by byte | ajc.com
“The arrest data, which provides only a preliminary snapshot since the state...”
– from Data: More than 700 students arrested in Connecticut schools in 2010 by RoH member Lisa Chedekel for C-HIT
Domestic Violence: A Public Health Problem →
Covering the CDC survey on rape and domestic violence? Emily Schmidt has tips for reporting with sensitivity.
Facebook launches tool to report suicidal behavior... →
An unconventional but welcome public health tool…
“Just look at what I call Internet Compulsion Disorder — ICD — going...”
– Internet Compulsion Disorder: Should We Include It in the DSM?
Via TheAtlantic.com
Interesting graphic about the health benefits of... →
Created by: Healthcare Management Degree
“The Health Care Innovation Challenge will award up $1 billion in grants to...”
– There could be a lot of interesting stories from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center, part of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Can Fast-Food Toy Bans Really Help Kids Eat... →
Have you been reading about San Francisco’s ban on toys in Happy Meals (and the way McDonald’s circumvented the rule)? Alice Park at TIME Healthland reports on a Stanford University study that measures impact.
In Ethiopia, Reproductive Health Journalism... →
Lessons from ICFJ, the International Center for Journalists.
In northwest Pasadena, access to healthful food is... →
latimes:
Just three supermarkets serve an area with 66,000 people. The Pasadena Public Health Department wants to set up a farmers market there next year.
“It’s my view that if you put the best scientists, science communicators, and...”
– Fiona Fox, Slate. What If There Were Rules for Science Journalism? (via futurejournalismproject)
“Afterward, when the baby was underground and the nursery door was shut, their...”
– Moving story about losing a child before birth: Pain of losing child haunts grieving parents by Joan Garrett at timesfreepress.com.
USDA Awards Grants to Universities in 13 States to... →
A USDA press release provides good fodder for many local stories.
“The real reason girls under 18 will not be allowed to buy Plan B without a...”
– From RoH member Mona Gable’s take on Plan B controvery in BlogHer. Read more points of view in Barbara Feder Ostrov’s post on the decision.
“Is the ban on gay blood donation health-conscious or homophobic?”
– Susan E. Matthews reports on an old law that is getting renewed attention in An unwanted donation in Scienceline 