Tag Archives: steroids

AHCJ award-winner’s work foretold N.Y. moratorium on certain supplements

Leave a reply
Image by Health Gauge via flickr.

Image by Health Gauge via flickr.

AHCJ members likely weren’t too surprised on Feb. 3, when the New York Office of the Attorney General ordered four major companies to stop selling certain herbal supplements, because in 2013, USA Today reporter Alison Young won an Award for Excellence in Health Care Journalism for investigating the lucrative and shadowy world of dietary supplements.

Research in New York showed many products did not contain any of the advertised ingredients, and in the series “Supplement Shell Game,” Young showed that some drugs – and their makers – can be downright dangerous. Even worse, industry players often clash with regulators, and many have criminal backgrounds.

Continue reading →

Kris Hickman (@the_index_case) is a graduate research assistant for AHCJ, pursuing a master’s degree in public health. She has a bachelor's degree in anthropology, with a minor in journalism, from the University of Missouri. She spent two years in Zambia as an HIV/AIDS community education volunteer in the Peace Corps. She aspires to be an epidemiologist and science writer.

Resources for reporting on compounding pharmacies

Leave a reply

Seven patients in Tennessee are sick after injections from a compounding pharmacy, health officials say. AHCJ has some presentations from a recent panel, The Boston Globe’s award-winning coverage of a similar outbreak and a questionnaire about how they reported on it and more resources for reporters who are looking into compounding pharmacies.

Presentations from a panel at Health Journalism 2013:

From compounders to drug shortages: Covering pharmacies and pharmacists
• Michael R. Cohen, R.Ph., M.S., president, Institute for Safe Medication Practices
• William Churchill, M.S., R.P.H., chief of pharmacy services, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
• John Walczyk, pharmacy manager, Johnson Compounding and Wellness Center

Keldy Ortiz wrote about the panel for Covering Health: Growing challenges to safety, adequacy of drug supply

Previous coverage

The Boston Globe‘s coverage of a fungal meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated drugs won first place in the public health category of the 2012 Excellence in Health Care Journalism Awards. See the coverage as well as a questionnaire about how they reported on the topic.

FDA regulation

In her tip sheet on the anti-aging movement, Arlene Weintraub touches on compounding pharmacies. She notes that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has tried unsuccessfully to put a halt to improper marketing claims by compounding pharmacists and its continuing efforts in this area are well worth following. In the aftermath of the earlier meningitis outbreak traced to a compounding pharmacy, at least two legislators said they will draft legislation to give the FDA more oversight of compounding pharmacies.

On April 26, senators introduced a draft bill to make clear oversight responsibilities for pharmaceutical compounding.

Budget Victim: Inspections For Compounding Pharmacies, WBUR, May 20

The FDA has a section of its website devoted to compounding pharmacies.

Transparency

This also might be a good time to remind public officials that there is now guidance on what information should be made public when someone dies or falls ill during a public health emergency. The document – developed by leaders in public health and health-care journalism – provides a framework for releasing such information as the age and location of private individuals who have been affected by an epidemic or other public-health event.

Pharmacy industry groups

… As we gather more resources, we will add them to this post …

Pia Christensen (@AHCJ_Pia) is the managing editor/online services for AHCJ. She manages the content and development of healthjournalism.org, coordinates AHCJ's social media efforts and edits and manages production of association guides, programs and newsletters.