My indepth story on possible misconduct by Seattle prosecutors published by The Intercept

by | Apr 18, 2018 | conflicts of interest, human trafficking, law enforcement, media coverage, prostitution, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution

A few months ago, I was given access to hundreds of internal documents that had been obtained from the King County prosecutor’s office and other law enforcement in the Seattle area by public records requests. The documents revealed that prosecutors and police in...

Why can’t the mainstream media get their facts straight in writing about the sex trade?

by | Oct 25, 2015 | human trafficking, media coverage, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, Uncategorized, underage prostitution

When it comes to the coverage of sex work or trafficking, the mainstream media often seems to forget a basic journalistic principle — the need to get their facts straight. Here are two recent examples from supposedly top-notch purveyors of journalism. This week,...

Amnesty International is on the right side of history (and the New York Times needs to get its facts straight)

by | Aug 2, 2015 | human trafficking, media coverage, prostitution, public health, sex trafficking, sex work, trafficking, Uncategorized, underage prostitution

Now that Amnesty International seems to be getting behind the movement to decriminalize sex work, the issue is finally getting some attention in the mainstream press. But as usual the media, or at least this article in the New York Times, has got some of its facts...

Institute of Medicine report concludes that the FDA is not doing adequate job of assessing drug benefits and risks

by | May 8, 2012 | antidepressants, clinical trials, drug marketing, FDA, media coverage, National Institutes of Health, patient care, pharmaceutical industry, Uncategorized

Two weeks ago, I headlined my blog with this question: Is the FDA violating its own mandate to approve safe drugs? Four days later, the national Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a 233-page report concluding that FDA’s current approach to drug oversight “is...

From the Pentagon Papers to Allen Jones: Why it’s so hard to be a whistleblower

by | Jan 18, 2012 | antipsychotic drugs, conflicts of interest, drug marketing, expert testimony, media coverage, pharmaceutical industry, whistleblowing

Allen Jones, the whistleblower in an ongoing landmark trial against the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, was very much on my mind this past weekend. I was participating in a workshop to develop curriculum to teach college students about the importance of...