Columbia Journalism School is presenting a new series focused on how its academic programs have been training students to become leading wellness care reporters. Effectually the earth, the work of health care journalists is vital for keeping the public aware of how the actions of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health insurers, wellness care professionals, government agencies, and policymakers can impact our lives and well-being. Today, nosotros are spotlighting 2019 Master of Scientific discipline Plan, Stabile Investigative Specialization graduate Tess Riski, who, while nonetheless a Columbia educatee, published her master's project as a New York Times investigative story.
Collaborating withTimesreporters Katie Thomas and Natasha Singer, Riski wrote about quality control problems at Nurx, a San Francisco-based health-tech startup known equally the "Uber of nativity command" that sells contraceptives through a prescribing app. Through her reporting, Riski plant that the visitor regularly cut corners and ignored regulations equally it loosened its prescription procedures.
Riski discovered the story at the kickoff of Columbia's academic yr. "I would roll through my Facebook news feed and run into sponsored posts for Nurx," Riski explained. "Beingness a office of the company's target market, I thought it was an interesting concept. But, I would observe on some of the posts that at that place were a lot of angry reactions....I started reading the comments and saw a comment from a woman named Stefanie who wrote that she nigh died from her experience on the app. I decided to message her on Facebook. She replied correct abroad, so we got to talking on the phone a few days later and she told me the whole story." Stefanie Kovaleski, a Detroit teacher, told Riski that she had been prescribed a medication through Nurx that caused her to develop life-threatening embolisms. "It was a pretty harrowing tale about her experience with the app," Riski said. "I figured, 'okay, at that place's something here.'"
Using LinkedIn, Riski then messaged former Nurx employees to see if they would tell her about the company and its culture. One former staff member shortly wrote back and became an off-the-tape source, outlining concerns virtually Nurx's prescription procedures and helping Riski identify people to contact and specific bug to investigate farther.
Knowing that there could exist an important story to tell well-nigh Nurx's quality control problems, Riski decided to develop it as her master's projection with kinesthesia adviser Charles Ornstein. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and deputy managing editor atProPublicawho teaches the Columbia grade "Investigating Health Care," Professor Ornstein helped guide Riski through the bureaucratic, legal, and business concern aspects of the healthcare industry. "Health care is a complicated topic and he helped me understand how to navigate it, how to write in a way that'south non jargony, and how to interview medical experts," she said. "He was there pretty much every step of the way."
Ornstein too continued Riski with Katie Thomas and Natasha Vocalist at The New York Times, which had been looking into Nurx as well. "They were really interested that I had an actual customer who was harmed through the app," Riski explained. With the Times behind the story, Riski was able to convince more former Nurx employees to discuss their concerns about the visitor'south loose quality control. Several of them went on record, confirming that the company had ignored or violated state and federal laws surrounding the sale and shipment of prescription medication.
When interviewing old Nurx employees, Riski drew upon the grooming she received in the Stabile Investigative Program to get them to share crucial information. "The interview techniques we learned in Stabile were extremely helpful," she said. "Ane time, our professor Jim Mintz, who is a private investigator, had an actor come up in to our class. Jim played the part of the interviewer and she played the part of an employee. She modeled for united states of america the best way to go people to open up when they accept signed nondisclosure agreements and are afraid to talk to you. I used that a lot in my reporting."
With ix old Nurx employees, including the company'southward one-time medical director, talking on record virtually the problems at the company,The New York Times published "Chasing Growth, a Women'due south Health Start-Up Cutting Corners" on April 26, 2019, 4 weeks before Riski's Columbia graduation. "It was really exciting," Riski said. "I definitely have a piece of the story clipped out on my wall."
Following her graduation from Columbia, Riski landed an internship at The Wall Street Periodical. Although she arrived at Columbia expecting to focus on criminal justice, Riski is now interested in standing to written report about health intendance. "When I did this story, I realized that health intendance touches everybody," Riski explained. "It'due south something that gets to the core of the human feel. We all deal with beingness ill and nosotros all take a family member or a friend who deals with being sick. Going through the health care system can be i of the near traumatic and painful things that people deal with. Taking into account the manner the wellness care organisation tin hurt them forth the way is really of import. There are so many meaningful stories you can find on the health care beat out."
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