In 2024, STAT’s reporters introduced you tons of nice journalism. We’ve additionally collected for you beneath our annual listing of tales that STAT staffers cherished, and need that they’d written. (Additionally take a look at the jealousy listing at Bloomberg Businessweek, which had the concept first.)
by Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic
As well being reporters, we write rather a lot in regards to the toll illnesses like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell tackle sufferers, and the long-running efforts to treatment them. Hardly ever — partially as a result of it so hardly ever occurs — will we write about what occurs after the treatment comes. Sarah Zhang, on this good profile, deftly walks by way of what occurred after a remedy got here for CF: How for a lot of sufferers, it not solely added many years of life however modified, in sophisticated methods, what it meant to reside. — Submitted by Jason Mast
by Sharon Lerner, ProPublica
There have been many explosive revelations about how firms like 3M and DuPont poisoned the world with PFAS, or “without end chemical compounds.” One such account, about how lawyer Rob Bilott took a farmer’s accusation of DuPont poisoning his cows and turned it into landmark lawsuits, was changed into a 2019 Mark Ruffalo film. However Sharon Lerner’s newest installment within the canon of what these firms knew and once they knew it’s worse than anybody may have imagined: An organization retaining secrets and techniques from its workers, and a lady who had been gaslit for many years about what she discovered — that 3M’s chemical compounds have been in blood samples of each single particular person on Earth. The narrative methods Lerner is utilizing had me on the ropes the entire time. Goosebumps, chills, some “oh my gosh”s…it’s a must to learn this one.—Submitted by Brittany Trang
by Maddie Oatman, Mom Jones
With DNA-altering medicines and protein structure-predicting AIs, it could really feel like we’re dwelling in a sci-fi future. However in the case of menstruation, science remains to be very a lot caught prior to now. On this fascinating, infuriating deep-dive into how the historic stigma and cultural taboos round intervals have hamstrung efforts to study from them, Maddie Oatman unabashedly explores the neglected potential of menstrual fluid as a wealthy supply of well being info — for every part from most cancers screening to fertility testing to understanding debilitating illnesses like endometriosis. — Submitted by Megan Molteni
by Stacy Kranitz and Kavitha Surana, ProPublica
Typically it’s onerous to wrap our heads round precisely how a sweeping coverage impacts folks on the bottom. ProPublica has achieved an unimaginable job this yr documenting precisely how devastating abortion restrictions have been for households. The publication’s picture essay by Stacy Kranitz, with reporting from Kavitha Surana, is without doubt one of the strongest items of journalism I’ve seen this yr. The 2 adopted Mayron Michelle Hollis for a yr after she was denied an abortion for a dangerous being pregnant, documenting her uphill battle to maintain her kids in a state with a weak social security web. She fights crushing monetary burdens, dependancy, and psychological well being struggles. Kranitz’s photographs seize this anguish, in addition to the moments of pleasure and connection that make up a life. — Submitted by Lizzy Lawrence
by Emily Alpert Reyes, Los Angeles Occasions
OK, I’m dishonest a bit bit, as a result of the primary installment on this collection about an sickness afflicting Los Angeles County countertop-cutters was revealed in late 2023. However the follow-up this yr illustrates reporter Emily Alpert Reyes’ dedication to the plight of largely younger Latino employees with an incurable illness brought on by inhaling bits of silica present in engineered stone counter tops. This collection lays naked the unconscionable selection many American employees face between staying wholesome and making a dwelling.— Submitted by Isabella Cueto
by Caleb Melby, Polly Mosendz, and Noah Buhayar, Bloomberg
The rise of mid-level clinicians is without doubt one of the most essential developments reshaping American drugs. This Bloomberg story investigates the terrifying underbelly of this pattern and raises massive questions on whether or not a few of these midlevel clinicians are certified to look after us and our youngsters. — Submitted by Zachary Tracer
by Gisela Salim-Payer, The Atlantic
“The Nobel is without doubt one of the best branding workout routines in historical past,” Gisela Salim-Peyer writes earlier than explaining how the Nobel Prize got here to be the prize. That is the sort of sacred cow-slaying I like to see as an opinion editor. — Submitted by Torie Bosch
By Leslie Roberts, Science
There isn’t a reporter on the planet who has lined the painful, protracted endgame (if we’re fortunate!) of the polio eradication program as diligently and well as Leslie Roberts, who primarily publishes in Science. Roberts obtained her arms on a draft copy of a report on the tragically botched “Swap”, the 2016 effort to take away a problematic element from the live-virus polio vaccine. The candid draft report was an anguished autopsy by the folks behind the choice to push forward with the change, regardless of the actual fact the world was not prepared. The ultimate model, posted months later whereas the world was fixated on the U.S. election outcomes, was sanitized. However the authentic lives on in Roberts’ reporting. — Submitted by Helen Branswell
by J. David McSwane, ProPublica
All the pieces from the headline — “Eat what you kill” — to the jaw dropping particulars of this story of a rogue physician and the sufferers he killed, reads like a Netflix thriller. However the story is terrifyingly and tragically true. ProPublica’s J. David McSwane did a masterful job telling this anguished story of a health care provider, the hospital, nurses, and city he largely managed, and the various deaths he prompted with nobody elevating considerations for years as a result of the earnings he was reaping have been so nice.— Submitted by Usha Lee McFarling
by Chris Hamby, New York Occasions
We’ve achieved some reporting on MultiPlan, a little-known firm to the general public that operates within the shadows of the well being care system. However this investigation exposes simply how integral it’s inside the medical health insurance business — and deftly explains how MultiPlan’s enterprise interprets into larger prices for all employees and their firms that present them with well being protection. The New York Occasions even wrangled essential paperwork that have been sealed in federal court docket to bolster its collection, highlighting how MultiPlan and all the largest medical health insurance carriers work collectively to pay as little as doable for out-of-network medical claims and reap “financial savings” that ought to be handed again to shoppers. — Submitted by Bob Herman
by Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
I’ve been an enormous fan of the YouTube channel “Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell” for a really very long time. In my view, the movies they produce are the gold customary in animated explainer movies. “Vaping is just too good to be true” is quintessential Kurzgesagt —deeply researched, nuanced, fantastically illustrated and expertly animated. It’s very accessible and enjoyable to look at, however finally leaves the viewer with the large essential takeaways — is vaping more healthy than smoking? Nearly definitely. Is it harmful? Nicely, we don’t know simply how harmful but, however sure. It’s science communication at its greatest. — Submitted by Alex Hogan
by Shaun Lintern, The Sunday Occasions
London’s Nice Ormond Avenue Hospital is famend as one of many nice kids’s hospitals of the world. That made it all of the extra surprising to learn this Sunday Occasions story about alleged improper care by an orthopedic surgeon named Yaser Jabbar who labored on the decrease limb reconstruction service. It describes a toddler needing a leg amputated due to problems following a surgical procedure, and different kids left with legs of various lengths. The story additionally detailed a damning report from the Royal Faculty of Surgeons about Jabbar, who left GOSH final yr, and issues at GOSH extensively. Lastly, it broke the information of a GOSH assessment of tons of of sufferers who had been cared for by Jabbar; of the 37 instances that had been reviewed by that time, 22 have been discovered to have undergone a point of hurt. — Submitted by Andrew Joseph
