Lathrop to oversee public databases in Dallas
AHCJ member Daniel Lathrop, who has been the chief digital strategist for InvestigateWest since its July 2009 launch, will be joining the Dallas Morning News on March 22 as its first news applications editor.
Lathrop will help the paper identify and obtain databases of public information. He also will be responsible for producing the interfaces through which readers can use those databases.
Lathrop is co-editor of the just-released book “Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice,” published by O’Reilly media.
Focus on hockey’s head injuries grows
Poynter Institute’s Al Tompkins takes a look at hockey injuries, especially head injuries.
Photo by Alex Kehr via Flickr
He points to an article in the Globe and Mail about the long-term effect of concussions and what Canada is doing to combat the issue, contrasted with what some places in the United States are doing to better treat and prevent concussions.
The article cites a study in the March 2009 issue of Brain that found former athletes were still suffering the effects of their head injuries more than 30 years after their last concussion.
Tompkins also notes the National Hockey League – which had 10 players out with head injuries in November – is confronting the problem by banning “blindside hits” to the head.
Sunshine Week: Some of the latest news
- SPLC open records audit examines suicide expulsion policies
- White House memo of March 16, 2010, encourages agencies to ensure full implementation of the President’s Memorandum on FOIA
- Leahy, Cornyn Commemorate Sunshine Week With Faster FOIA Act Introduction
- Public Online Information Act to be introduced by Steve Israel (D-N.Y)
- Sunshine and Shadows:The Clear Obama Message for Freedom of Information Meets Mixed Results (National Security Archive FOIA Audit)
- AP analysis of Obama FOIA record at a glance
- Introducing the Cycle of Transparency
- Budget cuts, furloughs blamed for denial or delay of official information in Calif.
AHCJ resources
- AHCJ calls on new administration to improve access to federal experts
- Major journalism groups demand agency end newsgathering constraints
- AHCJ objects to federal agencies’ handling of story embargo
- AHCJ calls for better information from hospital accreditation Web site
- Health journalists cite uneven disclosure of H1N1 deaths across country
- AHCJ’s right-to-know resources
Are emergency drivers distracted by technology?
“Driven to Distraction,” a New York Times series that looks at the “dangers of drivers using cellphones and other electronic devices, and efforts to deal with the problem,” turns its focus on first responders, such as police and paramedics.
Photo by rKistian via Flickr
Reporter Matt Richtel points out that emergency drivers are often required to use technological gadgets while driving at high speeds and negotiating heavy traffic to get directions and transmit information about patients.
Data does not exist about crashes caused by police officers or medics distracted by their devices. But there are tragic anecdotes.
The New York City Fire Department says ambulance drivers are not supposed to use on-board computers while driving but “medics and E.M.T.’s in New York and elsewhere say that although they are aware of the rules, they do use their on-board computers while driving.”
Drug firms turn to private doctors for promotion
Filed under: Conflicts of interest, Hot Health Headline
Pharmaceutical companies are turning to doctors in private practice to promote their products as universities have developed conflict-of-interest policies that limit their doctors’ activities, according to the latest report from John Fauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Fauber, who has been covering conflicts of interest in medical research for more than a year, reports that “So much money is at stake that in January one academic doctor resigned his job at Harvard rather than give up his speaking income.”
Medical schools can restrict doctors who work for them from advocating particular drugs and can require that they inform patients of their ties to drug companies, but private physicians have no such obligations.
In previous articles, Fauber has reported on University of Wisconsin doctors who were making six-figure sums from drug and medical firms by serving as consultants or doing promotional speeches.
Critics say the talks can be biased and contribute to spiraling health care costs by promoting the use of expensive brand-name drugs over generics. The practice, according to critics, also leads to more non-approved and potentially harmful use of those drugs, so-called off-label prescribing.
Sunshine Week poll: U.S. government is secretive
Americans think the U.S. government is “secretive” or “very secretive,” according to a poll released in conjunction with National Sunshine Week.
The poll, part of a five-year series of studies into public attitudes toward government openness commissioned by the American Society of News Editors, “found that 70 percent believe that the federal government is either ‘very secretive’ or ’somewhat secretive.’ The largest portion of respondents, 44 percent, said it is ‘very secretive.’”
Attitudes on the openness of the federal government have changed in recent years. In the first poll conducted for National Sunshine Week in 2006, 22 percent of respondents said they believed the federal government was “very secretive.” It rose to 37 percent in 2007, 44 percent in 2008 and then dropped slightly to 40 percent in 2009 at the beginning of the Obama administration.
State and local governments fared better in the public mind: “Only 36 percent believe their local governments are very or somewhat secretive. Forty-eight percent said the same of their state governments.”
The survey was conducted from Feb. 3 to March 9 at the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University under a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. The poll has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.
AHCJ resources
- AHCJ calls on new administration to improve access to federal experts
- Major journalism groups demand agency end newsgathering constraints
- AHCJ objects to federal agencies’ handling of story embargo
- AHCJ calls for better information from hospital accreditation Web site
- Health journalists cite uneven disclosure of H1N1 deaths across country
- AHCJ’s right-to-know resources
Welcome to the latest journalists to join AHCJ
AHCJ welcomes these new members:
- Alsy Acevedo, reporter, El Sentinel-Orlando Sentinel Communications; Orlando, Fla.
- Robin Adams, senior reporter, The Ledger; Lakeland, Fla.
- Ada Alvarez, independent journalist; North Miami, Fla.
- Antigone Barton, independent journalist; Lantana, Fla.
- Manu Bhandari, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
- David Boddiger, independent journalist; Chicago
- Suzanne Bohan, science reporter, Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group; Richmond, Calif.
- April Choi, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
- Megan Clancy, staff writer, California State University, Long Beach; Dana Point, Calif.
- Sonya Collins, student, University of Georgia, Grady College of Journalism; Athens, Ga.
- Claudia Collucci, student, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Monya De, student, University of California, Los Angeles; Santa Monica, Calif.
- Hannah Douglas, student, Truman State University; Springfield, Ill.
- Carrie Feibel, health/science reporter, KUHF Houston Public Radio News; Houston
- Antonio Flores-Lobos, editor, Las Noticias; Kingston, N.Y.
- Sylvia Forbes, independent journalist; Fayette, Mo.
- Kathleen Frey, student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Denise Fulton, executive editor, IMNG/Elsevier; Kensington, Md.
- Landon Hall, health reporter, The Orange County Register; Santa Ana, Calif.
- Charles Hallman, reporter, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder; Minneapolis, Minn.
- Smith W. Hartley, editor-in-chief, Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge; Baton Rouge, La.
- James Hataway, student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Markian Hawryluk, reporter, Bend Bulletin; Bend, Ore.
- Duke Helfand, editor/staff writer, Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles
- Jessica Hook, student, University of Oregon; Eugene, Ore.
- Devin Katayama, student, Columbia College-Chicago; Chicago
- Toni Lapp, founder/editor, Spectrumconnection.net; Kansas City, Mo.
- Noam Levey, Washington health policy reporter, Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau; Washington, D.C.
- Russell Luce, student, Truman State University; Kirksville, Mo.
- Jessica Machetta, broadcast journalist, Learfield Communications, Inc.; Jefferson City, Mo.
- Chasity Mayes, student, Missouri State University; Springfield, Mo.
- Mason McCoy, student, Truman State University; Kirksville, Mo.
- Sarah Moore, student, Truman State University; Fenton, Mo.
- Adi Narayan, independent journalist; Brooklyn, N.Y.
- Victor Perez, director, Radio Kuva Inc.; Gainesville, Fla.
- Ernesto Portillo Jr., editor, La Estrella de Tucson; Tucson, Ariz.
- Belinda Puetz, editor-in-chief, Journal for Nurses in Staff Development; Cantonment, Fla.
- Dave Raiford, asst. managing editor, HealthLeaders-Interstudy; Nashville, Tenn.
- Farida Romero, associate producer/reporter, Radio Bilingue; Berkeley, Calif.
- Ryan Sabalow, health reporter, Redding Record Searchlight; Redding, Calif.
- Sananda Sahoo, student, University of Missouri; Washington, D.C.
- Stephanie Schupska, graduate student, University of Georgia; Athens, Ga.
- Gale Scott, independent journalist; Cranbury, N.J.
- Julie Sneider, independent journalist; Waukesha, Wis.
- Jean Virgile Tasse Themes, graduate student, Columbia University-Chicago; Chicago
- Conjivaram Vidya Shankar, independent journalist; Chennai, India
- Kelly Von Lunen, editor/health reporter, VFW Magazine; Kansas City, Mo.
- Stacy Weiner, health writer, Dell Perot; Fairfax, Va.
- Daniel Weintraub, editor, HealthyCal.org; Sacramento, Calif.
- Linda Wilson, independent journalist; McHenry, Ill.
- Fernaudo Zapari, editor, El Mexicano Newspaper; Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Erica Zucco, student, University of Missouri; Columbia, Mo.
If you haven’t joined yet, see what member benefits you’re missing out on: Access to more than 50 journals and databases, tip sheets and articles from your colleagues on how they’ve reported stories, conferences, workshops, online training, reporting guides and more. Join AHCJ today to get a wealth of support and tools to help you.
AP story focuses on overuse of medical treatments
Lindsey Tanner of The Associated Press addresses the overtesting and overtreatment that have become the focus of several studies and journal articles.
Tanner points to President Obama’s recent medical checkup, during which he had a prostate cancer screening and a virtual colonoscopy - neither of which is normally recommended for patients his age.
Increasingly, experts are questioning whether doctors are practicing “defensive medicine” - ordering tests and treatments to be sure they have covered all the bases even if they are not indicated. Other factors, such as a fee-for-service system and patients who insist on testing and treatments, also come into play.
This week alone, a New England Journal of Medicine study suggested that too many patients are getting angiograms — invasive imaging tests for heart disease — who don’t really need them; and specialists convened by the National Institutes of Health said doctors are too often demanding repeat cesarean deliveries for pregnant women after a first C-section.
Last week, the American Cancer Society cast more doubt on routine PSA tests for prostate cancer. And a few months ago, other groups recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s, and for fewer Pap tests looking for cervical cancer.
The focus on overtesting and overtreatment comes the same week CBS News sent out a press release announcing that Early Show anchor Harry Smith underwent a colonoscopy on live television, reported on by Katie Couric. The press release proclaims:
Following Couric’s on-air colonoscopy in 2000, University of Michigan researchers documented a 20% increase in the number of colonoscopies performed across the country, dubbing it “The Couric Effect.”
MMWR: Mass. reform narrowed insurance gap
Filed under: Health care reform, Health data, Studies
Studying data from the Massachusetts Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System has led researchers to conclude that health care legislation in that state has narrowed the gap in insurance coverage for underserved populations. The data did show that “some groups continue to experience lower rates of annual checkup and less access to a personal care provider.”
The percentage of respondents who reported having health insurance rose 5.5%, from 91.3% in the pre-law period to 96.3% in the post-law period.
The report, “Short-Term Effects of Health-Care Coverage Legislation — Massachusetts, 2008″ is in the March 12 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
PR specialist: Health journalists have critical role
Health journalists may be surprised to find support from Paul Oestreicher, a marketing communications consultant and adjunct professor at New York University with experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
Oestreicher makes the case that the health care industry has a vested interest in increasing the public’s health and science literacy - something he says will be supported by “news outlets being repopulated with professional journalists to help carry information forward.”
Though the pharmaceutical industry has suffered from behavioral, communication and performance missteps that have lowered reputation, it is low health literacy among consumers and the decline of science journalism that are fundamental to this problem.
Oestreicher cites numbers that show the pharmaceutical industry is suffering from a poor reputation that will only be helped by the public’s ability to evaluate medical facts and evidence. He also cites articles and a survey done by AHCJ and the Kaiser Family Foundation about the critical need for journalists who understand scientific studies and statistics.
Professional health and science journalists must help to communicate the progress and the failures, and to differentiate the facts and evidence from the frauds and junk science. Unfortunately, we’ve seen surveys confirm what we already know about the state of health and science journalism over the past few months. It’s a shrinking, wounded profession. We know the symptoms – they’ve been well documented. Like the global economy, journalism needs a recovery plan.
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Health Journalism 2010, AHCJ's annual conference, features a world-class program with story ideas, sources, stronger reporting skills, chances to meet newsmakers and network with other journalists.
- Health and education: Covering these intersecting beats
- Reporting on the business of health care
- Health reporting resources for journalists on state and local government beats
- Shortened Lives: How location, lifestyle affect health
- Covering a complex story for the long haul
- Aging in the 21st Century: Presentations and tip sheets
- AHCJ calls for better information from Joint Commission Web site
