Insights

<p>Don’t spit out your fruitcake, but are the ingredients in it safe? A couple of recent federal auditor reports suggest that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration needs to step up its efforts to protect the nation’s food supply in two areas: tracing ingredients through the food supply chain and ensuring that food companies register with the federal agency.</p>

<p>Deadlines to apply for workshops at the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting are approaching.<br />

<p>It’s safe to say that most health writers pay attention when Tracy Weber and Charlie Ornstein publish something.</p> <p>They have been called the Woodward and Bernstein of health reporting. The comparison fits because these two have few peers in their ability to dig for documents, cajole sources into talking and embarrass powerful public figures.</p>

<p>Freelance journalist <a href="http://newsblaze.com/writer/rose.html">Martha Rosenberg</a> recently made an interesting comparison between embattled drug giant Wyeth and former insurance giant AIG. The latter famously handed out massive bonuses and planned lavish company retreats at a time when the company was receiving billions in federal bailout funds.

<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>