Insights

In recent years, there's been growing concern that a lack of doctors will keep newly insured patients from accessing care. Now, a new tool can predict the supply of physicians and help journalists ask and answer new questions from the data. Fresh story ideas abound.

To keep up with the latest discussions on topics relevant to health journalists, follow Career GPS posts and job listings via RSS. To submit a job listing, send me an email at alromano@usc.edu.

The allegations of dental negligence against Dr. Robert Tupac described a host of problems — painful eight-hour dental surgery performed without anesthesia, crumbling dental work, drooling and bone loss. But with patients not eager to talk to a reporter, court records proved key to the story.

To better appreciate some of the legal problems with the way California's medical board oversees the disclosure of doctors’ disciplinary records online, consider the legal case of the late Orange County skin care pioneer James E. Fulton.

The premiere showing of "The Syndrome," a documentary that asks the hard questions about shaken baby syndrome theory, brought together a group of people in desperate need of community.

The Medical Board of California has successfully won legislation that will remove a 10-year time limit on the online disclosure of doctors' discipline records. But the board better have its legal team ready, because doctors won't hesitate to challenge the rules in court.

Addiction usually leaves a wake of chaos, and all kinds of casualties - marriages, jobs, health. Today's opioid addiction crisis is not only claiming lives, but sparking a new epidemic of hepatitis C among new injection drug users.

The White House recently announced a set of initiatives to "bridge the word gap" between kids of different socioeconomic backgrounds. The research on which the policy is based has been around for decades, so why all the fresh attention on this topic?

Prop. 45 would grant California’s insurance commissioner the ability to approve or reject health insurance rate increases. While voter support soared over the summer, approval has fallen since then, as the insurance industry invests heavily in defeating the measure.