health.newsbios

Reuters's Bill Berkrot: November 2008 Health.NewsBios Biography Update

This is an excerpt from Reuters Bill Berkrot's November 2008 Health.NewsBio.  His NewsBios dossier is one of more than 50 profiles of influential health journalist updated each month and available from NewsBios for only $69.95.  Hundreds of other NewsBios on health journalists are also available. Phone: 866-NEWS-070, ext. 2 to order or email tjfr@newsbios.com.

Bill Berkrot - Reuters
November 2008

Mr. Berkrot was part of the Reuters journalism contingent that traveled to New Orleans for the American Heart Association’s annual meeting, November 8th to 12th.  Among the stories he wrote emanating from the conference were:

•    AstraZeneca’s Crestor cuts deaths, heart attacks – November 9, 2008 (724 words)  [Mr. Berkrot filed the original 553-word story alone; when it was updated to include additional study details and comment, it carried the byline of Mr. Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson.]

•    Drug-coated stents top bare metal in diabetics – November 10, 2008 (715 words)  [Mr. Berkrot filed the original 336-word story alone; when it was updated to include company and analysts comments, it carried the byline of Mr. Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson.]

•    Bayer to advance clot drug despite mixed results – November 10, 2008 (649 words) by Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson

•    New test to identify heart failure in ER superior – November 11, 2008 (594 words)

•    Sanofi’s Multaq reduces hospitalization: study – November 11, 2008 (444 words)

In addition, Mr. Berkrot actively covered the Reuters Health Summit held in New York just before Thanksgiving.  His blog posts at the Reuters Summit on Health:

•    Obama victory sparks pride – now what?
Aetna CEO Ron Williams is one of the highest profile African American executives in the United States. On Wednesday he reflected on the election of Barack Obama, who is about to become the nation’s first black president.

•    High risk in high places
AstraZeneca Chief Executive David Brennan has identified a few more risk factors and may be ready to start taking his own cholesterol medicine.
“I don’t know about you guys but I’m having my CRP tested. Why not know? I’m 55 years old, Type A personality, an executive, that’s a risk factor right there. Working in the pharmaceutical industry is a risk factor,” Brennan said, only half joking.

On November 9th, Mr. Berkrot also wrote a short article, 344 words, titled “Headphones can interfere with heart devices”

BusinessWeek's Catherine 'Cathy' Arnst: November 2008 Health.NewsBios Biography Update

This is an excerpt from BusinessWeek's Catherine "Cathy" Arnst's November 2008 Health.NewsBio.  Her NewsBios dossier is one of more than 50 profiles of influential health journalist updated each month and available from NewsBios for only $69.95.  Hundreds of other NewsBios on health journalists are also available. Phone: 866-NEWS-070, ext. 2 to order or email tjfr@newsbios.com.

Catherine Arnst - BusinessWeek
November 2008

Along with her colleagues Peter Burrows, Roger Crockett, Aaron Pressman, Aaron Ricadela, Arlene Weintraub, Jena McGregor, Rob Hof, Amy Barrett, Manuel Baigorri, Kerry Capell, Emily Thornton, Jon Fine, Nanette Byrnes, Lauren Young, Amanda Zusman, David Kiley, Burt Helm, Arik Hesseldahl, Matthew Boyle, Gene Marcial, and Christopher Palmeri, Ms. Arnst contributed to a special election package under the direction of Chief of Correspondents Joseph Weber.  Ms. Arnst's story was HEALTH CARE: IMMEDIATE RELIEF FROM RISING COSTS (17 November 2008, 802 words).

The remainder of Ms. Arnst's print work this month was largely confined to editing and writing introductory paragraphs to sections in a special report on heart health, published on November 24. She addressed the cholesterol-lowering statin Crestor (221 words);  the ineffectiveness of vitamins on heart health (154 words); and fixing heart ailments by delivering healthful genes (207 words).

Online, she wrote about so-called dental tourism (November 09, 2008, 729 words), addressing the large number of Amerians who travel abroad for dental care because it is cheaper there than in the U.S.

Ms. Arnst also had four blog postings:

•    Take Time To "Engage With Grace" - November 26, 2008
This probably isn't the best time of year to bring this up, but how many of us have thought about the way we would like to leave this mortal coil?

•    Sling-Wearing Moms Take Aim At Johnson & Johnson - November 18, 2008
Johnson & Johnson learned the hard way -- don't make new moms mad. The company,which makes extensive use of new media, posted an ad for Motrin on its website.

•    What Makes A Good Family? - November 17, 2008
I'm sure many of you have read with horror the stories about the children that have been abandoned in Nebraska under the state's safe haven law.

•    Women, Heart Disease and Statins -  November 10, 2008
You may have already read about the statin study in the news today that found that the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor reduced the risk of heart attacks, strokes and angioplasty.