Insights

I’ve been too nice the past two years, calling my year-enders “PR puffery” or “PR stuff.” The stuff I’m writing about here is pure crap. So we’re calling it that. This is about the bombardment of news releases sent to journalists who are trying to decide what is vital information for the public.

In 2 years, only 200 people in Santa Cruz County have signed up for California's Preexisting Condition Insurance Program. For Eva Lopez, it was a lifesaver.

I rarely read an entire story on my phone, but when I saw the headline Dirty medical needles put tens of thousands at risk in USA TODAY on Thursday, I had to click through all nine pages of it.

More best health stories of the year from the Antidote Blog.

Earlier this month, New York Times columnist Mark Bittman highlighted the mounting body of evidence that pesticides pose a danger to all people. What are some long- and short-term solutions to reduce risk?

This week take a look at radio, online and magazine positions in governmental, public and private organizations.

Here are some of my favorite health stories from this year. It was once again difficult to whittle the list down to just a few, another great reminder of all the good work being done by health writers around the world.

My latest story, Rough Justice in Indian Child Welfare, provides a rare and shocking behind-the-scenes look at what can happen to Native children once they end up in the foster-care system, in this case in South Dakota.

Journalists have a knack for pointing out problems. They rarely explain how to fix these problems. The message to readers is: the world is a mess. You figure out how to make it better. There is a growing movement among reporters to remedy this.

Diabetes prevention on the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota