Dead by Mistake documented the enormous national toll of death and injury from preventable medical errors, showing they kill far more people than traffic accidents. It also spotlighted the personal tragedies through 30 individual case histories. The Times union reports, among other findings, that doctors fudge death certificates to cover up medical errors, how state laws mandating the reporting of medical errors are ignored, and how ten years after a landmark federal study unveiled the problems, many basic and essential steps needed to stem the toll haven't been taken.
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Complete list of credits
Principal writers:
Eric Nalder, Senior Enterprise Reporter, Hearst Newspapers
Cathleen F. Crowley, Medical Writer, Albany Times Union
Team:
Olivia Victoria Andrzejczak, Reporter and Web Map Producer, Hearst Corp.
Kyla Calvert, Reporter and Web Producer, Hearst Corp.
Don Finley, Medical Writer, San Antonio Express-News
Laurie Kinney, Senior Correspondent, Hearst Argyle Television
Terri Langford, Enterprise Reporter, Houston Chronicle
Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, Projects Writer, San Antonio Express-News
Lance Williams, Investigations Editor and Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle
Editors:
Phil Bronstein, Editor-At-Large, Hearst Newspapers
David McCumber, Editor, Hearst Connecticut Newspapers
Bob Port, Senior Editor, Albany Times Union
Carmen Cano, Executive Director of Product Development for Hearst Newspapers
Jacquee Petchel, Assistant Managing Editor, Houston Chronicle
Steve Gonzales, Director of Photography, Houston Chronicle
Dean Betz, Director of Content, chron.com
David Sheppard, Projects Editor, San Antonio Express-News
Audrey Lee, Sunday Editor, San Antonio Express-News
Wendy Wilk, Bureau Chief, Hearst Television
Smiley Pool, Photo Editor, Houston Chronicle
Shaun Neville, Special Projects Producer, Hearst Television
Stephanie Milner, copy editor, Houston Chronicle
Lisa Stevens, copy editor, Albany Times Union
Joe Stalvey, copy editor, Albany Times Union
Contributors:
Debra Friedman, reporter, Greenwich Time
Paul Grondahl, reporter, Albany Times Union
Brian Lockhart, capitol reporter, The (Stamford) Advocate
Daniel Tepfer, reporter, Connecticut Post
Victoria Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle
Research:
Kelly Guckian, Database Editor, San Antonio Express-News
Sarah Hinman, News Research Director, Albany Times Union
Julie Domel, news researcher, San Antonio Express-News
George Hernandez, Hearst Intern
Levi Pulkkinen, Seattlepi.com
Web Design and Development:
Tim Sanders
Graphics:
Nanette Bisher
Columbia University:
"Dead by Mistake" was reported and researched with assistance from the 2009 class of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism: Olivia Victoria Andrzejczak, Ana Azpurua, Rhiannon Coppin, Vytenis Didziulis, Danielle Douglas, Catalina Lobo-Guerrero, Marine Olivesi, Jacob Pearson, Kristina Peterson, Malia Politzer, Hilke Schellmann, Andrew Schmid, Erin Siegal and Emily Witt. Directed by Irene Jay Liu, Times Union reporter, and John Martin, both adjunct professors, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Photographers:
John Carl D'Annibale, Albany Times Union
Mayra Beltran, Houston Chronicle
Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News
Michael Farrell, Albany Times Union
Nick Gerard, Connecticut Post
Doug Goodman, for the Hearst Corporation
Sandy Huffaker, special to the San Francisco Chronicle
Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News
Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News
Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle
Jeff Zelevansky, special to the Albany Times Union
Multi-media assistance:
Josh Trujillo, Seattlepi.com
Humberto Martínez, Hearst Fellow