Insights

<p><strong><em>Editor’s Note:</em></strong><em> Today, Center for Health Journalism Digital Contributing Editor and&nbsp;<a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/antidote" target="_blank">Antidote</a></em><em>&nbsp;</em><em>author William Heisel will be speaking at the&nbsp;</em><em>Consumers Union Safe Patient Summit&nbsp;in Austin, Texas. Heisel will speak about "Diagnosing Doctors: Using Public Information for&nbsp;Accountability." He will be joined by Bob Oshel, a former&nbsp;senior program analyst and research director, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration.

<p>Here’s what we’re checking out today:</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re checking out today:</p>

<p>So, I'm already running into some challenging snags.</p> <p>A California transplant, I'm still learning about all the ramifications of Prop 13. Coming from Texas, where school district's still raise money the old fashion way, I mistakenly thought the poorest neighborhoods in the Coachella Valley would have the largest class sizes and the smallest per pupil spending.</p> <p>Boy was I wrong.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3428/3934149502_2a3f2456a7_m.jpg&quot; width="150" style="float: left; margin: 5px;" />Medicine is one of the few professions where a person can commit a crime by failing to do something.</p><p>Dr. Charles F. Connors was convicted in 2001 of four counts of "Fai

<p>For those who have followed the healthcare reform debate from inception to legislation, it often seemed as though there was more misinformation and fear-mongering circulating in the public domain than accurate details.</p> <p>And with Tuesday's election handing control of the House to Republicans, the divide over healthcare reform — which seems, at times, straight down party lines — will only get more pronounced, leading to the inevitable question: what will become of the healthcare reform bill before it takes effect in 2014?</p>

<p>San Francisco is taking the fun out of McDonald's treats after the county's board of supervisors decided to ban toys in happy meals. It's a move that assumes the toys are the reason kids are eating Happy Meals, which I don't believe is true.</p>

<p>I have a new best friend. She's cool and smooth and adaptable. Kind of like a Dragon-Tattooed-urbanite who can deal with <em>any </em>situation, from a tweaking guest at a rave, to the post-modern gut-angst of intellectuals. She's slow to rile too - give her a nudge and all she does is gurgle at

<p>Depending on whom you ask, AOL's Patch is either an innovative and well-intentioned new venture to infuse local news back into American communities, or it's "<a href="http://www.laweekly.com/2010-09-30/news/patch-the-walmart-of-news/">the Walmart of news</a>," a $50 million behemoth set on invading communities and running local sites from corporate headquarters. But they are hiring, and <a href="http://www.patch.com/jobs">hiring en masse</a>.

<p>Here’s what we’re checking out today:</p> <p><strong>Condoms</strong>: Should condoms be given to teens instead of candy on Halloween? <a href="http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20101105/NEWS/11050343/Handout-… Oregon family did, sparking a statewide debate</a>.</p>