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William Heisel's Antidote: Investigating Untold Health Stories

Complete Health Reporting: News Releases Should Spark, Not Replace Good Questions

At their best, news releases are designed to distill complex science into understandable language the public (and media) can understand. At their worst, they are designed to sell a particular product. Here's how to use them as a jumping off point, not a crutch, for your health reporting.

Willful Ignorance: Five Tips from the Star Tribune's Medical Board Investigation

What you can learn from the Minneapolis Star Tribune's great investigation into how Minnesota's medical board failures to sanction doctors even for the most egregious kinds of malpractice.

Complete Health Reporting: Always Ask About Costs

Never write a story about a health-related treatment without talking about costs. I wish health reporters would stitch that onto their pillows so they could see it every morning when they wake up.

Was This Patient Dumped Or Dropped Off? Courts Will Decide

Did a Los Angeles hospital dump a schizophrenic patient onto Skid Row, as his wife claims? Or did the hospital merely "drop him off" at a halfway house?

A Public Death: Digital Records Could Combat Identity Theft

Identity theft fighters want faster ways to see whether a person is stealing someone else’s persona. Could digital death certificates — searchable by the public and by journalists — be of help?

Lap-Band Maker Allergan Dumps Dubious Doctors From Its Website

It would be interesting to see exactly what evidence finally tipped the scales at Allergan. Why did the Lap-Band maker finally stop selling its product to doctors participating in the aggressively marketed 800-GET-THIN weight loss surgery campaign?

Slap: Patient Punished For Rate-Your-Doctor Posts

Online review sites should not be a forum for falsehoods, but defamation suits against patients who post legitimate critiques of medical services are a threat to free speech and a threat to safe medicine. Here's a case in point.

Q&A with California Medical Board PIO Dan Wood: Citizens Have a Right to Know What Government Is Doing

Dan Wood, the new PIO at California's Medical Board, isn't fazed by reporters' questions. After all, he used to ask the same ones.

Q&A with Dan Wood: Medical Board Wants Patients To Have The Best Doctors

What do medical board information officers do, anyway? Antidote blogger William Heisel interviews a former journalist who's the new point man for the California Medical Board.

The Limits of Self-Control: Patients May Be Better Off Without California Nursing Board

Is a bad cop better than no cop at all? The elimination this month of the California Board of Registered Nurses raises the question.

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