New! ProPublica Patient Harm Community

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Introducing the ProPublica Patient Harm Community on Facebook

by Daniel Victor and Marshall Allen
ProPublica, May 21, 2012, 2:32 p.m.

        

            You could fill a baseball stadium many times with the people who experts say die each year from an error, injury or infection suffered while undergoing medical treatment. Many more are harmed.

Using Facebook, we've created a space to bring together those who have been harmed and others concerned about the problem. Join the community or follow the conversation here.

Group members have already shared stories of personal disability or the death of a loved one due to surgical mistakes, becoming infected with deadly drug-resistant bacteria and dental mishaps — including cases they claim were not properly addressed by health care providers.

Some of ProPublica's past health-care reporting focused on gaps in nursing oversight, drug company payments to doctors and abuses at psychiatric facilities. With Facebook, we want to build a community of people — patients as well as doctors, nurses, regulators and health-care executives and others — who are interested in discussing patient harm, its causes and solutions. Among other things, we'll post Q&As with experts and provide links to the latest reports, research and policy proposals. Your suggestions are welcome along the way.

Please join us. Share your story, ask questions and provide your perspective with other members. Your contribution may help shape our reporting.

The community is moderated by ProPublica reporters Marshall Allen and Olga Pierce.

Marshall has covered patient harm since 2006. While at the Las Vegas Sun, Marshall's series, "Do No Harm: Hospital Care in Las Vegas," won a Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Olga specializes in health policy, insurance issues and data journalism. She is a graduate of the Stabile Investigative Journalism Seminar at Columbia University and a finalist for the 2011 Livingston Awards.

Daniel Victor and Blair Hickman, ProPublica's social media team, try to also keep an eye on things.

Follow @bydanielvictor

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