List date(s) this work was published or aired.
1. June 21, 2011 2. Aug. 7, 2011 3. Sept. 8, 2011 4. Aug. 28, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
1. After gastric bypass surgery, patients often trade food addiction for another habit, such as alcohol or drugs. 2. Consumer debt and obesity rates have both soared in America during the past three decades, and they’ve done so at strikingly similar rates. The parallel rise is not just a coincidence, say experts, who cite the causes shared by overspending and overeating. 3. New data showed how Big Pharma buys doctors’ allegiances. When pharmaceutical money lines doctors’ pockets, ethical issues are raised — and so should patient concerns. 4. The emerging field of epigenetics is finding that the during first 1,000 days after conception, babies’ genes get reprogrammed. A mother’s diet, weight and blood sugar levels during pregnancy determine whether the child is set up to become obese or diabetic or have other chronic diseases. What Mom eats and how much she weighs during pregnancy not only affects her baby but impacts the genes of future generations.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
1. Story cited a just-released study of more than 12,000 gastric bypass patients, which found that patients who underwent gastric-bypass surgery were four times more likely to require inpatient care for alcohol abuse than the general population. 2. The article cites studies quantifying the connection between debt and obesity, and it relies on interviews with financial psychologists who are experts on the connection. 3. The story relies on an embargoed report released that day from ProPublica, which launched a national database allowing consumers to find out whether doctors were getting money from pharmaceuticals. 4. Report relied on hard animal and human science being conducted in labs all over the country.
Explain types of human sources used.
1. Reporter included interviews with two patients who, after their gastric bypass surgery, became alcoholics. One was Andrew Kahn, who, after going from 367 pounds to 180, took up vodka in lieu of food. The piece also cites interviews with bariatric surgeons, a neuropsychiatrist researching the problem of addiction transference for the National Institutes of Health and addiction experts. 2. Article includes a working woman and single mother who is trying to combat both debt and obesity. 3. Story uses comments from Aaron Liberman, professor of health management at UCF College of Health and Public Affairs, who weighs in on the ethics of these arrangements. Reporter interviewed Central Florida health-care providers listed as being among the top recipients of pharmaceutical funds. 4. Story uses local and national epigenetic experts conducting research on this emerging science. Reporter also included comment from a pregnant mom who, upon learning she had diabetes, radically changed her eating patterns for the sake of her baby.
Results:
1. After the story ran, several readers called saying they or someone they knew were in the same boat, and wanted to seek help. Meanwhile, Andrew Kahn took the story and used it as a promotional tool for his next calling– speaking to those who struggle with addictions to food and other substances. 2. Story was shared or tweeted more than 500 times and drew dozens of comments. In Charge, the company that helped my source subject get out of debt, said no single media report had ever resulted in more calls to its center. 3. Online metrics showed that the Dollars for Docs tool was one of the hottest items at OrlandoSentinel.com that week, along with the story. Many readers emailed or called asking for help finding out if their doctor was on the list. Many readers, including health-care providers, mentioned how much they appreciated this kind of service journalism. 4. Comment section of this story proved that it stirred up a controversy. Not all liked what they read. Nonetheless, the story ranked in the top five that week for page views.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
1. No corrections or clarifications appeared on these stories.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
1. Advice is twofold: Gastric bypass surgery is one of the fastest-growing procedures in the country. It is the only sure way to reverse type 2 diabetes, and is a godsend for many whose obesity is crippling. However, I learned of this risk of addiction transference, and thus got the idea for this story, from a bariatric surgeon I interviewed for another story. Specifically, I asked him whether this surgical treatment would be an option for morbidly obese teens. He paused and told me of the high level of addiction transference that happens in all patients, but that the risk would be worse in teens, who are particularly at risk for experimenting with drugs, alcohol and sex. That would be a major reason to wait. So journalists need to keep their eyes on that. In a broader sense, I would advise journalists writing about any “medical advance” to look hard at the new problems that arise after one problem is solved. That is the often-overlooked story behind the story practitioners are trying to sell. 2. I would advise journalists to keep their eyes open for the many ways in which seemingly separate worlds — in this case financial health and diet — are in fact highly interrelated. The connections and crossovers between such unlikely pairings are rich territory. 3. Don’t be afraid to make enemies in the name of protecting consumers. 4. The field of epigenetics will be one to watch for health reporters. Although this story focuses on how pregnant moms can change their unborn babies’ DNA through their dietary choices, how dads treat their bodies also plays a role and can change their offspring’s DNA. There’s a lot more here. Dive in. It’s a fascinating world.