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Reporter shares tips on how to get good data despite privacy laws
Annie Waldman Privacy laws, such as HIPAA, are the bane of health journalism. No matter how fervently you wish to preserve patient privacy, the legal protections often stand between you and a great...
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Reporters: Federal public affairs staffers block access to information
Reporters who cover federal government agencies say they face impediments to getting information to the public because of interference from public affairs officers, according to a survey released by...
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HHS responds to questions about enforcement of NPDB restrictions
Journalists who name troubled physicians in their stories after downloading a public version of the National Practitioner Data Bank do not have to answer government questions about their sources and...
View ArticleAHCJ protests FDA surveillance of communication between reporters, scientists
Following a New York Times report over the weekend that revealed the federal government secretly tracked communication sent by FDA scientists to “members of Congress, lawyers, labor officials,...
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Roundtable gives journalists chance to share tips on open access #ahcj13
Do your sources ask for email interviews or quote approval? Are press relations officers listening in on your interviews? The Right to Know Committee will host a roundtable discussion at Health...
View ArticleJudge’s decision puts Medicare data in public realm
A decision announced Friday would allow the public and journalists access to Medicare claims data about individual doctors. An injunction barring release of the data had been in place for 33 years,...
View ArticleBarring access to information, officials poses threat to public health
Alice Dreger, a professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, writes for Pacific Standard Magazine about the public health threat...
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Sunshine Week: Committee advocates for access to information
This is Sunshine Week, a yearly celebration of open government. It’s held every year in the week that includes the birthday (March 16) of President James Madison, a champion of the First Amendment....
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AHCJ objects to FDA’s ‘close-hold embargoes,’ requests explanation
Image by Logan Campbell via flickr. AHCJ is protesting the Food and Drug Administration’s recent restrictive practices in handling news embargoes and has asked the agency for clarification of its...
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Can agencies stop employees from talking to media? Brechner Center says no
Public employees have the right to speak to the press without going through the boss, but workplace gag orders continue to violate their freedom of speech, says a report from The Brechner Center for...
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