Insights

<p>Some new research and reporting on global mental health and mental health disparities has me thinking about these topics in a new way. This is the kind of context that can add more nuance and sophistication to your reporting on mental health, particularly in ethnic minority and immigrant communities, so read on:</p>

<p>When a patient has a pain problem, he can seek a doctor <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/qa-dr-doris-cope-pain-doctors-need-better-tools-track-addicts">who has experience</a> in treating pain through a variety of measures that don’t rely solely on addictive prescription drugs.</p> <p>Or he can find a doctor who acts like a <a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/01/05/best-pez-dispenser-you-ever-owned/">P… dispenser</a>.</p> <p>Dr. Daniel M. Howell was a Pez dispenser.</p>

<p>California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2010-2011 <a href="http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/">state budget</a>, released Jan. 8, met with <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14156535">the usual outrage</a> from the state’s Democratic leaders for its dramatic cuts to health and social safety net programs. California Healthline offers a nice round-up of the media coverage <a href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2010/1/11/governors-budget…;

<p>Last week yet another research study was released on the effectiveness of antidepressants.&nbsp; <a href="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/303/1/47?home"><span style="color: #0000ff;">The study, published in the <em>Journal of the American Medical Association</em>, found that Paxil and Tofranil were about as effective as placebo for those people who have mild to moderate depression.&nbsp; </span></a></p>

<p>Unless someone has had a bad experience with an insurance company, most people think of insurers as either benign or positive forces in their lives. It’s the president from “24” telling us in a deep, reassuring voice that we’ll be taken care of.</p>

<p>I wrote <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/drug-resistance-ap-investigates-globe-health-threat">earlier this week</a> about "When Drugs Stop Working," a new series of articles on drug resistance around the world based on a six-month investigation by Associated Press reporters Margie Mason and Martha Mendoza.

<p><em>UPDATE:</em> Rutland will be allowed to continue practicing but cannot perform surgeries or deliveries after a judge's Jan. 7 decision. Here's the Orange County Register <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rutland-227531-board-medical.html">s…;

<p>Drug-resistant infections are one of the world’s biggest emerging health problems, but they don’t seem to get much sustained media attention except when there’s an outbreak of MRSA. That’s why a new series of articles on drug resistance around the world, based on a six-month investigation by Associated Press reporters Margie Mason and Martha Mendoza, is so welcome.

<p>Dr. Earl Bradley had rooms in his pediatric practice decorated with Disney characters. Standard issue for the field.</p> <p>He also had a merry-go-round and a Ferris wheel, which might be pushing the boundaries of childlike enthusiasm.</p> <p>What made Bradley truly unusual, though, were the six handheld video cameras he kept. He used them, police say, to film himself molesting patients. They suspect he may have victimized more than 100 children, often bringing them into the basement of his office where he gave them toys to play with but also terrorized them.</p>

<p>From health disparities to depression, “food deserts” to prison medical care, the broadcast projects of our recent California Endowment Health Journalism Fellows covered a wide variety of critical health issues. Here’s a sampling of their work:</p>