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

Contraindications: Dr. Bahram Tafreshi Moshiri, State by State

<p>Health care reporters know how rarely hospitals suspend a doctor's privileges. Those rights are granted and revoked by other doctors, and doctors are loathe to set a precedent by saying a botched surgery or missed diagnosis should bar a doctor for life.</p><p><br /><br />That's why it was a big deal when the Reston Hospital Center in Virginia took away Dr. Bahram Tafreshi Moshiri's right to practice there in November 2001.</p>

Contraindications: Dr. Paul William Anderson

<p>Sometimes, all a doctor with a checkered past wants is some peace and quiet.</p><p>Dr. Paul William Anderson had a little trouble with a medical malpractice lawsuit in Nebraska. The Medical Board of Nebraska wanted the radiologist to explain why he had failed to diagnose a tumor that ended up blinding one of his patients. </p>

The doctor is on: Dr. Sanjay Gupta might be a capable broadcaster, but don’t we expect a little more from our surgeon general?

<p><i>Update: Dr. Gupta removed himself from the list of candidates on March 5, telling CNN's Larry King, "I</i><i> think for me it really came down to a sense of timing more than anything else. This job...takes us away from our children for so many years at once, and I sort of came to grips that I'd probably be away for several years of their lives."</i></p><p>Dr. Sanjay Gupta appears to be the first surgeon general picked not for his public service but for his public image. </p>

Physician walks down hallway

Digital systems can fail patients — here’s how

COVID-19 has put the spotlight on health care data like no other public health crisis. One of the untold stories certainly to emerge is how electronic health record (EHR) systems held up during the pandemic....