Managing Editor
Working at Drugwatch was a great experience for me. I collaborated with seasoned staff writers, highly trained marketers and extraordinarily talented front- and back-end developers.
It was so refreshing for me to work in such a fast-moving, high-tech environment after spending years in the rapidly declining newspaper industry.
Drugwatch combined my interests in news and health care, allowing me to direct, research and edit a variety of articles that resonated with our readers. We covered the nation's crisis with rapidly rising drug costs, the opioid epidemic, superbug outbreaks and vaccine injuries.
I learned a lot about our key coverage areas, including:
We produced a lot of great work at Drugwatch. Our website offered unbiased and well-researched information about dangerous prescription drugs and faulty medical devices. I really enjoyed our watchdog approach to covering Big Pharma.
Drugwatch provided a great public service to people who have been harmed by drugs and devices and have nowhere to turn for clearly written, balanced and informative articles. We also offered free legal case reviews through our expert legal partners.
Unregulated Manufacturers
I'm proud of our coverage this year of Netflix's original documentary, The Bleeding Edge. The film offered an unprecedented, critical examination of the medical-device industry.
The movie exposed how the $400 million industry is largely unregulated and how patients sometimes serve as guinea pigs after they are implanted with untested devices.
We covered such topics extensively on Drugwatch. But having them detailed in a Netflix documentary offered us another opportunity to spread the word about potential health threats and regulatory loopholes.
The Bleeding Edge
Our coverage of The Bleeding Edge was so extensive, some people thought we produced the movie. We did have a head start on the filmmakers because we had already interviewed some of people who appeared in the movie, including several Drugwatch experts.
I think our coverage of The Bleeding Edge surpassed every other website, both in our space and in traditional media.
Michelle Llamas, Drugwatch's senior staff writer, previewed the documentary and attended the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April 2018.
She live tweeted the entire weekend, offering expert commentary and exclusive interviews.
Reaching Out
Later, we worked together to arrange a local screening at the Winter Park library. We held that in July before the film's release on Netflix.
Drugwatch experts Dr. E. Scott Sills and Madris Tomes were quoted in the movie. Essure patient Angie Firmalino - now a Drugwatch guest columnist - was profiled.
After the movie, Drugwatch expert Dr. Christopher Walker led a discussion at the library about transvaginal mesh risks. South Florida attorneys Holly and David Innis weighed in on their experiences with Essure, the risky birth-control device.
Audience members said the event opened their eyes and they urged us to conduct similar outreach events in the future.
In-depth features
Our readers also praised us for in-depth feature stories produced regularly under my watch. I worked closely with writers to conceive, edit and deliver these projects:
Profiting From Pain: Drugwatch detailed the origin of the U.S. opioid crisis, including Big Pharma's responsibility, amid mounting litigation and an ever-escalating death toll.
U.S. Drug Prices vs. The World: Prescription drugs cost more in the U.S. than in most anywhere else in the world. Why?
Big Pharma's Block on Competition: Why has brand-name prescription drug prices in the U.S. have increased nearly 100 percent in the past six years? A major factor is a lack of generic competition.
It was so refreshing for me to work in such a fast-moving, high-tech environment after spending years in the rapidly declining newspaper industry.
Drugwatch combined my interests in news and health care, allowing me to direct, research and edit a variety of articles that resonated with our readers. We covered the nation's crisis with rapidly rising drug costs, the opioid epidemic, superbug outbreaks and vaccine injuries.
I learned a lot about our key coverage areas, including:
- Prescription drug side effects
- Essure birth-control implant complications
- Artificial hip failures
- Robot-assisted surgery mishaps
- Transvaginal mesh health risks
We produced a lot of great work at Drugwatch. Our website offered unbiased and well-researched information about dangerous prescription drugs and faulty medical devices. I really enjoyed our watchdog approach to covering Big Pharma.
Drugwatch provided a great public service to people who have been harmed by drugs and devices and have nowhere to turn for clearly written, balanced and informative articles. We also offered free legal case reviews through our expert legal partners.
Unregulated Manufacturers
I'm proud of our coverage this year of Netflix's original documentary, The Bleeding Edge. The film offered an unprecedented, critical examination of the medical-device industry.
The movie exposed how the $400 million industry is largely unregulated and how patients sometimes serve as guinea pigs after they are implanted with untested devices.
We covered such topics extensively on Drugwatch. But having them detailed in a Netflix documentary offered us another opportunity to spread the word about potential health threats and regulatory loopholes.
The Bleeding Edge
Our coverage of The Bleeding Edge was so extensive, some people thought we produced the movie. We did have a head start on the filmmakers because we had already interviewed some of people who appeared in the movie, including several Drugwatch experts.
I think our coverage of The Bleeding Edge surpassed every other website, both in our space and in traditional media.
Michelle Llamas, Drugwatch's senior staff writer, previewed the documentary and attended the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in April 2018.
She live tweeted the entire weekend, offering expert commentary and exclusive interviews.
Reaching Out
Later, we worked together to arrange a local screening at the Winter Park library. We held that in July before the film's release on Netflix.
Drugwatch experts Dr. E. Scott Sills and Madris Tomes were quoted in the movie. Essure patient Angie Firmalino - now a Drugwatch guest columnist - was profiled.
After the movie, Drugwatch expert Dr. Christopher Walker led a discussion at the library about transvaginal mesh risks. South Florida attorneys Holly and David Innis weighed in on their experiences with Essure, the risky birth-control device.
Audience members said the event opened their eyes and they urged us to conduct similar outreach events in the future.
In-depth features
Our readers also praised us for in-depth feature stories produced regularly under my watch. I worked closely with writers to conceive, edit and deliver these projects:
Profiting From Pain: Drugwatch detailed the origin of the U.S. opioid crisis, including Big Pharma's responsibility, amid mounting litigation and an ever-escalating death toll.
U.S. Drug Prices vs. The World: Prescription drugs cost more in the U.S. than in most anywhere else in the world. Why?
Big Pharma's Block on Competition: Why has brand-name prescription drug prices in the U.S. have increased nearly 100 percent in the past six years? A major factor is a lack of generic competition.