Insights

<p>We last heard about Dr. Lawrence James Williamson when he had gone through an <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/contraindications-dr-lawrence-james-williamson">extremely bad year</a> of temper tantrums, pill popping, waking blackouts and accusations he threatened his ex-wife and the mediators in his divorce.</p>

<p>I have completed one of my projects for The California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowship. Last Wednesday, I produced an hour-long segment on <a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/these-days/">These Days</a> about the short- and long-term effects of concussions. <a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2010/jan/20/repeated-concussions-can-cause-lif… segment</a> featured a neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist from the UCSD School of Medicine, and a ton of phone calls from our listeners.</p>

<p>One of the happiest moments of 2009 for me personally was when I found out I received a fellowship from the California Endowment to produce a video series on <a href="http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm… suicide</a>.</p>

<p>When undergoing an invasive procedure, such as a colonoscopy or biopsy, patients trust that the equipment being used is clean.</p> <p>Nurses often open syringe containers in front of patients to emphasis that they are using the syringe for the first time. When they are done, they throw it into a biohazard container, often on display for the patient’s benefit.</p>

<p>In the first of my “<a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/making-hepatitis-history-michael-jackson%E2%80%99s-deadly-drug-strikes-again">Making Hepatitis History</a>” series of posts, I wrote about the Southern Nevada Health District’s <a href="http://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/download/outbreaks/final-he… Health Investigation Report</a> about the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, the epicenter of the worst hepatitis C outbreak ever to hit the US.</p>

<p>One question that’s getting lost in all the chatter after Scott Brown’s historic election and Nancy Pelosi ‘s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR20100… comments on health reform</a> today is what’s going to happen to the concessions that the insurance and pharmaceutical industries offered last year as serious reform discussions were just getting underway. &nbsp;The Wall St.

<p>So convoluted was Dr. Mark B. Kabins’ scheme to scam a patient he injured that you might need a whiteboard and several differently colored markers to make sense of it.</p> <p>According to the <a href="http://lasvegas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/lv011410.htm">U.S. Department of Justice</a>, Melodie Simon underwent a spine surgery by Kabins, an orthopedic surgeon, in 2000. It went badly, and Simon ended up paralyzed.</p> <p>According to the FBI, Kabins “knew that experts could say that he fell below the standard of care in his treatment of Simon, and that he could be sued.”</p>

<p><strong>UPDATE: 9:54 p.m., Jan. 19</strong></p><p>The phrase "stunning upset" doesn't even begin to capture the national political shockwaves as Republican Scott Brown <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/01/20/repu…; Martha Coakley for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy's seat. The "what happens to health reform now?" political analysis below remains relevant. In the meantime, here's a quick roundup of the latest coverage and analysis:</p>

<p>You might be alarmed at what you find in the bankruptcy records for a medical company or a physician. Here are a few things that have alarmed me.</p> <ul><li>Patient records, with birth dates and social security numbers.</li></ul><ul><li>Charts showing detailed histories of visits, procedures and lab workups over decades.</li></ul><ul><li>Pathology lab reports.</li></ul> <p>Why would you find all these things mixed in with more mundane financial records showing the sums various people are owed?</p>

<p>One of my first investigative stories as a reporter started with a call from a doctor who was worried about the sterilization practices at his hospital.</p> <p>I started calling people at the hospital to try to answer some basic questions about what they were doing to make sure that surgical equipment was clean between procedures. “Why don’t I just come down and take a look at your process?” I suggested.</p> <p>And that’s how I saw the sterilization logs.</p>