1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Should the Colonoscopy be the 'Gold Standard'?" by Gregory Warner.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
18-Aug-10
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Preventive screening in this country has always been a mix of science and big business. A dilemma neatly summed up by the story of one of the most frequently done tests out there: The humble colonoscopy.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
One single sentence in this story took the most research: "Some 37 million Americans over the age of 50 have had [a colonoscopy screening]." This statistic had never been published before. Several experts told me that it would be too difficult to find accurate national estimates for the US population as a whole. Ultimately, I cross-referenced two sets of data – from librarians at the CDC and AHRQ – to account for under-estimated screenings and noise in both data sets. I then checked my conclusions with both librarians and other statisticians. Other documents used: scientific journal articles, NIH Conference notes, etc.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
This is a story about the nexus between the cost and the culture of prevention. I wanted to understand not just the numbers involved but our changing relationship, as a society, to the procedure. In order to do this I spoke to dozens of specialists as well as health economists and on the ground practitioners.
6. Results (if any).
This story was the 'most emailed story' for over a week. There was a lively web debate with over two dozen published comments.
7. 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.
Yes. The American Cancer Society disagreed with a sentence in the story that said: "The American Cancer Society christened colonoscopy the 'gold standard'." We issued a correction. The correction clarified that the American Cancer Society did not actually use the term 'gold standard' but rather that they issued guidelines which for the first time made colonoscopy a "preferred test."
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
I had a compelling 'cost of science' story to tell. But I felt that this story would have more impact for listeners if it went beyond the science or economics and became a narrative story about the history of our relationship to a procedure. How did the colonoscopy screening become the de facto cancer screening test, with such a transformative economic impact on the profession of gastroenterology? I sought out characters that could not only make the argument, but somehow embody the argument.