Why one reporter killed a story about Theranos
Jenny Gold of Kaiser Health News writes about how she killed a story about blood testing company Theranos for NPR after her experience with its public relations staff, including the mysterious fire alarm at a Walgreen’s she was visiting. Gold writes, “Soon, the two Theranos representatives approached me again — with a third on the phone, […]
Coverage: SEC charges Theranos CEO with fraud
Elizabeth Holmes, founder and chief executive of the blood-testing company Theranos, has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with an “elaborate, years-long fraud,” the SEC said on Wednesday. Carolyn Y. Johnson of the Washington Post had the story: Holmes agreed to a $500,000 penalty and a 10-year ban on serving as an officer or director […]
Reuters seeks health care/pharma reporter
Reuters is looking for an exceptional business journalist to help drive ambitious coverage of the U.S. health care and pharmaceutical industries. Based in Washington D.C. or New York, the reporter will break news and set the agenda in the fast-changing health care business. The beat will be anchored by the Food and Drug Administration but […]
ProPublica hires Armstrong to cover health care
ProPublica announced that David Armstrong is joining its staff as a senior reporter covering health care. Armstrong comes to ProPublica from STAT, where he was a senior enterprise reporter and wrote extensively about the opioid crisis. His series in collaboration with the Boston Globe on abuses in the addiction treatment industry, including exploitative middlemen and […]
Coverage: Roche is buying Flatiron Health for $1.9 billion
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Group is buying Flatiron Health, an Alphabet-backed cancer-focused startup founded by two former Google employees, for $1.9 billion. Christina Farr of CNBC.com had the news: Flatiron was valued at $1.2 billion when it raised its last round from Roche in 2016. Medical distribution giant McKesson was also interested in buying the company, sources say. Alongside […]
Philly Inquirer hires Gantz from Baltimore Sun biz desk
Charlotte Sutton, the health and science editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, sent out the following announcement to the staff: I am pleased to announce that Sarah Gantz is joining the Philadelphia Inquirer this month as our Health Costs reporter, which is a new beat made possible by a grant from the Lenfest Institute. Sarah’s first […]
ProPublica hires Bloomberg’s Chen to cover health care
ProPublica announced Monday that it has hired Caroline Chen as a reporter covering health care. Chen comes to ProPublica from Bloomberg News, where her reporting has focused on the drug industry and the intersection of health care and technology. Her work there included investigations into Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ use of a mail-order pharmacy to pump up […]
Bloomberg health care reporter Chen is leaving
Caroline Chen, a health care reporter at Bloomberg News, is leaving the news organization. On Twitter, Chen wrote, “I’ve had a wonderful time here and I’m so grateful to Bloomberg for letting me contribute to its health coverage.” She later tweeted, “More on my next steps to come soon.” Chen has covered the drug industry […]
Government agency threatens to ban Modern Healthcare reporter
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services threatened to ban a Modern Healthcare reporter from participating in the federal agency’s telephone news conferences after he refused to delete three sentences from a published story. Felice Freyer of The Boston Globe reported, “The reporter — Virgil Dickson, Washington bureau chief for Modern Healthcare — believed the agency was […]
Dallas Biz Journal tech reporter hired by D CEO magazine
Shawn Shinneman, the tech reporter for the Dallas Business Journal, has been hired by D CEO magazine to be a senior editor and editor of its D CEO Healthcare web site. D CEO editor Glenn Hunter writes, “Shawn comes to us from the Dallas Business Journal, where he’d served as the technology reporter, editing the DBJ‘s Techflash newsletter. “A […]
