Insights

You learn a lot when you spend months reporting on a given issue or community, as our fellows can attest. Whether you’re embarking on a big new story or seeking to go deeper on a given issue, it pays to learn from those who’ve already put in the shoe leather and crunched the data. In these essays and columns, our community of journalists steps back from the notebooks and tape to reflect on key lessons, highlight urgent themes, and offer sage advice on the essential health stories of the day. 

Author(s)
By Chelsea Willett

Thanks to reforms in how government food voucher programs can be used, low-income Americans can now access the bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables at thousands of farmer's markets around the country.

Author(s)
By Ryan White

Less education lowers the chances that you have health insurance, which translates into less medical care and worse health outcomes. Many of the health risks for the illiterate are much more immediate than that, like not being able to read pill bottles or the accompanying instructions.

Author(s)
By Cathryn Jakobson Ramin

Creating custom hormone therapy is big business for compounding pharmacies. Regulated by state pharmacy boards and not the FDA, compounders have been known to get a pass in the face of substantial trespasses. So just how safe are these drugs?

Author(s)
By Debra Sherman

The oncologist is the person who will look after my cancer for the rest of my life, however long it lasts. I need to trust him or her implicitly. Just for starters, I need to trust the treatments prescribed for me will work, even if they make me feel sicker than I felt in the first place.

Author(s)
By Ryan White

According to 2012 figures, fast food restaurants spent $4.6 billion on advertising their goods, up 8% from 2009, and social media represents a growing slice of that marketing pie.