Insights

<p>Sheri Fink won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting this year for her compelling narrative about life-and-death choices made by health care providers in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. While the story ran in <em>The New York Times Magazine</em>, she did her reporting while enmeshed in the nonprofit journalism world, as a <a href="http://www.kff.org/mediafellows/">Kaiser Media Fellow</a> and later as a reporter at the nonprofit newsroom <a href="http://www.propublica.org/">ProPublica</a>.</p&gt;

<p>California's Central Valley, once called "the richest agricultural region in the history of the world," is a 400-mile-long swath of some of the world's most productive agricultural land. About one-fourth of the produce consumed in the United States is grown in the Central Valley -- and nearly half of all pesticides used in this country are sprayed on crops in the region.</p>

<p>What sort of paper trail might a fraudster leave?</p> <p>Because the key to a fraudster’s scheme is the appearance of legitimacy, you need to start with the agencies that confer legitimacy on most businesses.</p> <p>Let’s start with the tax rolls. These insurance fraud cases often end up in charges that hinge on unpaid income tax. Remember Al Capone?</p> <p>Here’s one recent example from an <a href="http://www.justice.gov/tax/usaopress/2010/txdv10_Fry_Sent.pdf">FBI press release</a>:</p>

<p>It is a well-documented fact that from the late 1800s on, Native American tribes on the high plains were forced to abandon hunting and foraging as their primary means of feeding themselves. Instead, they started eating unhealthy processed ‘commodity foods’ supplied by the federal government. My project will focus on a trio of agricultural tribes on North Dakota's Fort Berthold Reservation, whose robust health lasted into the middle of the 20th century.

<p><span><p>Our project will focus on childhood obesity and the role food and beverage marketing plays in it. We'll look at how the junk-food marketing world has changed over the years, and dig into the latest trends in Internet marketing.</p></span></p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading today:</p> <p><strong>Transplant:</strong> Kudos to Reuters Health reporter Frederik Joelving for exposing a New York Post story about alleged “Bronx wife-killer” Joey Concepcion getting a liver transplant <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE66R38620100728">as flat-out wrong</a>. Will heads roll at the Post? The Village Voice has a <a href="http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2010/07/the_new_yor… wrap-up</a> – with some unanswered questions – on the fiasco.</p>

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

<p>Methamphetamine has proven to be so addictive and so socially destructive that, like cocaine in the 1980s, it is now the Big Bad Drug. It has been the subject of countless news stories, a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOX57s9c_Ww">critically acclaimed television series</a>, a <a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2009/07/22/Arts/12162.html">best-selling book</a> and <a href="http://www.davidjohnsen.com/travels/2007pnw/02MontanaMeth1.jpg">spooky folk art billboards</a>.</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading (and watching) today:</p> <p><strong>Generics:</strong> Veteran journalist Merrill Goozner (whose <a href="http://www.gooznews.com/">GoozNews blog</a> should be on your regular reading list) reports on a study showing how <a href="http://www.gooznews.com/node/3396">Medicaid could switch more patients to generics</a> to save money. Many of Medicaid’s 45 million recipients are still using brand name drugs long after generics become available. What’s happening in your state’s Medicaid program?</p>

<p>Camden, New Jersey, which sits across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, is known as one of the nation’s most violent and impoverished cities. But as Camden’s mostly black and Latino residents navigate dangerous streets and crushing poverty, they also face a broken healthcare system. With limited access to primary care, about half of all Camden residents visit a hospital every year. The top 10 reasons for emergency room visits were all primary care issues, with the common cold topping the list.</p>