The article revealed that California hospitals had more than 100 avoidable adverse events ("never events") on average each month, including leaving instruments in patients, permitting bedsores to fester and performing the wrong surgeries on patients or the correct surgeries on either the wrong patient or body part.
Judges' comments: A tough but well-controlled and balanced scoop about the "never events" occurring in California hospitals. With clear, lean prose, the story vividly describes serious medical errors without sensationalism or insinuation. Ample space for hospital response insures both fairness and a full airing of a complex issue.