Insights

<p>The Senate may be taking a <a href="http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/senate-tables-health-… break</a> from health reform, but a journalist’s quest for fresh angles on the topic never wanes. (If you’re looking for some ideas, check out my previous tips <a href="../../../../../../../../resources/lessons/health-reform">here</a>.)</p>

<p>Front Groups opposing healthcare reform have gone virtual. You know those games those people with seemingly lots of spare time on their hands play on Facebook? The <em>Silicon Alley Insider</em> reports that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/health-insures-caught-paying-facebook-us… groups are paying gamers </a>in fake currency if they take surveys. The surveys then automatically send a letter opposing healthcare to Congress.

<p><a href="https://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/PProfile.asp">Dr. Panayiotis Baltatzis</a> has been given many chances.</p> <p>In 1995, the Maryland State Board of Physicians placed Baltatzis on probation after other physicians in a peer review process found that he had, among other things, prescribed narcotics to patients he had not adequately evaluated. The doctor, who practices in Baltimore area, was supposed to take a class in prescribing controlled substances and submit to annual peer review of his practice.</p>

<p>When Los Angeles Times reporter <a href="../../../../../../../../resources/sources/lisa-girion">Lisa Girion</a> and health policy consultant <a href="../../../../../../../../resources/sources/peter-harbage">Peter Harbage</a> talk about health reform and health insurance, the result is an exceedingly well-informed discussion with lots of concrete story ideas for journalists.</p>

<p>The shimmering blue lights of the Terminal Island Bridge, rising above the <a href="http://www.portoflosangeles.org/">Port of Los Angeles</a>, belie the intense pollution that emanates from the nation’s largest port and compromises the health of nearby communities. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Larry Adelman, executive producer of the "Unnatural Causes" documentary series, and Dr. Anthony Iton, senior vice president for healthy communities at the California Endowment, will be joining Bay Area News Group&nbsp;for a live online chat about health inequities.</p><p>The discussion will begin at noon&nbsp;today at <a href="http://www.ContraCostaTimes.com/life-expectancy">www.ContraCostaTimes.c…;. Please feel free to join us.</p><p>This is part of a four-part series on health inequities that we began publishing Sunday.</p>

<p>In June 2002, Dr. David F. Archer had a paper published under his name that reassured women everywhere that they could take antibiotics and birth control pills at the same time and not worry about pregnancy. The article was music to the ears of executives at Wyeth, the drug company giant.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.reportingonhealth.org/users/craigrosa"><br />Craig Rosa</a> is relatively new to the news arena. Before becoming the senior interactive producer for KQED in San Franciscion, he was creating innovative educational programs at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. He has put that educational know-how to work for QUEST, KQED's multimedia series about Bay Area science and environmental news.<br />

<p>Robert Davis, Ph.D., M.P.H. is on a mission: Reporters need to put on their skeptics' hats when they report on the latest and greatest in medical research.</p>

<p>It sometimes seems like it takes a high-profile case like <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/31/schiavo/index.html">Terri Schiavo</a> to get people to think about end-of-life issues – or editors to agree to stories on the topic.</p>