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

Mystery Disease: Self-Diagnosis Leads to More Anxiety Than Relief

While away on a business trip, I woke up at least every 15 minutes in the hotel room coughing so forcefully that I was having convulsions. My body was drenched in sweat, and my mind started racing toward all the possibilities. Tuberculosis? Hantavirus? Valley fever?

A Public Death: Getting It Right On the Final Diagnosis

When in doubt, call it heart disease. This seems to be the mantra of many in medicine, unfortunately, according to a recent study in Preventing Chronic Disease. The study found evidence that heart disease is too frequently reported as a cause of death when other causes are more likely culprits.

Ecological Anxiety: How Much Radiation is Too Much?

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimates that the typical American is exposed to about 300 millirems per year of radiation from natural background sources. Every year, it’s as if you are undergoing 30 dental X-rays without ever setting foot in a dentist’s office.

Just One Breath: Valley Fever Concerns Spread Out

Most of the people who contract valley fever live in California or in Arizona. But concerns about the disease are starting to spread -- with journalists reporting on it from other parts of the country.