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

West Virginia ER doctors OD'd on doctor's reckless treatments

<p>An accurate curriculum vitae for Dr. Louis John Del Giorno would show a 20-year history of missed diagnoses, multiple overdoses and avoidable patient deaths.</p> <p>In that time, medical boards have documented lapses that have led to injuries or deaths in 35 patients, and those are just the ones the regulators caught.</p>

Just out of prison? Go practice medicine on the poor, says Washington state

<p>It’s not often that a veteran physician pleads poverty. Once a doctor gets through residency and spends a few years establishing a practice, patient billings tend to provide a good living. That money can dry up, though, if you are caught committing insurance fraud by federal investigators and sent to prison.</p>

Q&A with Jonathan Watts: Cancer Villages and Environmental Health in China

<p>Jonathan Watts arrived in China in 2003 after a distinguished career covering Japan for the Guardian in London. He was filling very big shoes, taking over for <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2007/jun/03/johngittings">John Gittings</a>, who had written about China since the Cultural Revolution. Watts quickly established himself as a clear-eyed observer of the massive changes under way economically, politically and culturally. In 2008, he took a break to write a book about the environmental and health effects of China’s rapid growth.</p>

Thirty-somethings, beware of how Utah handles shrinks who blur patient boundaries

Medical boards are racing to see who can set the loosest limits on doctors disciplined for inappropriate conduct with female patients.</p> <p>The Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/doctors-behaving-badly-sixty-somethings-beware-inappropriate-internist-secret-past">set the age limit at 60</a> for women there. If you are under 60, the disciplined doctor needs to have a chaperone in the room. Over 60, it’s a free-for-all. But the Utah Medical Board did Louisiana a few decades better.</p>

St. Louis Post Dispatch uncovers felons making healthcare "affordable"

<p>This is part of my ongoing effort to highlight great investigative work being done outside Big Media.</p> <p>Blythe Bernhard and Jeremy Kohler have been writing a series of stories in the <em>St. Louis Post-Dispatch</em> that should be carefully studied by anyone wanting to examine physician discipline in a state, region or nationally. Their latest installment, <a href="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_81910db9-a314-5e0e-839… felon, fit to practice? Disgraced doctor gets a second chance</a>, started with straightforward top:</p>

Virginia keeps lips zipped on ER doc's dangerous slips

<p>If you have the misfortune of suffering a heart attack, you hope at least a few things might go right when you are wheeled into the ER.</p> <p>You hope the doctor on duty will give you the right tests.</p> <p>You hope the doctor will read those tests correctly to make a solid diagnosis.</p> <p>You hope the doctor will admit you to the hospital if you need further care.</p>

Tennessee doc accused of hooking pregnant woman on drugs stays in business

<p>Pop quiz: Which scenario will cause a doctor to lose her license in Tennessee?</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">A. You go into business with a convicted murderer, who also happens to be your husband, and you get caught selling drugs illegally, resulting in a felony conviction.</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px;">B. You fall behind on your professional license fees.</p> <p>If you answered “B” you are right.</p>