I have reported on health for most of my career. My work as an investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register exposed problems with the fertility industry, the trade in human body parts and the use of illegal drugs in sports. I helped create a first-of-its-kind report card judging hospitals on a wide array of measures for a story that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. I was one of the lead reporters on a series of stories about lead in candy, a series that also was a finalist for the Pulitzer.For the Center for Health Journalism (previously known as Reporting on Health), I have written about investigative health reporting and occasionally broke news on my column, Antidote. I also was the project editor on the Just One Breath collaborative reporting series.  These days, for the University of Washington, I now work as the Executive Director for Insitutue for Health Metrics and Evaluation's Client Services, a social enterprise. You can follow me on Twitter @wheisel.

Articles

No One Knows: Involving parents improves child and parent health

Research shows that involving parents more deeply in their kid's care has lasting benefits for both child and parent. In one study, mothers in the treatment group had less depression and PTSD symptoms, while kids had far fewer behavioral problems one year later.

When parents were shut out of their children’s health care

In the not-so-distant past, parents weren't always allowed to accompany their children throughout the hospital, creating added anxiety for both. Advances in child psychology helped changed that, and now parents routinely follow their kids every step of the way.

Valley fever has been found in the soil of Eastern Washington.

Just One Breath: CDC matches genes to make valley fever history

The CDC has used cutting-edge DNA tests to place valley fever firmly in Washington state. That means the fungus is likely to show up in other western states. A more complete map of valley fever’s true range should soon emerge as the testing effort expands.

"Guerrilla gardening" takes advantage of unusual spaces.

Balanced Diet: What food warriors can learn from tobacco victories

Advocates for healthier eating often take inspiration from the struggle to regulate tobacco. But food is a much more complicated challenge for health policy strategists. Ideas floated at the recent EAT Stockholm Food Forum ranged from fax taxes to guerrilla gardening.

No One Knows: Informed patients make hospitals better

Hospitals may not always see complaints as signs of support. But when a hospital has problems, it can only get better if the community within and around it helps it get better. None of that can happen when the community is kept in the dark.

Critics of food restrictions often frame the debate in terms of freedom of choice.

Balanced Diet: Rethinking the debate on regulating junk food

At the EAT Stockholm Food Forum, speakers took on junk food and suggested the debate between freedom and regulation is a false one. But attempts to regulate food have backfired. Some argue politicians now must persuade people that the freedom to eat bad food is no freedom at all.