Background
Klaidman, Stephen David was born on May 28, 1938 in New York City. Son of Moe Klaidman and Pauline Hinerfeld.
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book
The Virtuous Journalist
(This book combines the insights of a seasoned journalist ...)
This book combines the insights of a seasoned journalist with those of a philosopher to provide a penetrating and comprehensive guide to the ethics of news reporting. Drawing on a wealth of real-life cases, The Virtuous Journalist melds for the first time a conceptual analysis of the critical moral problems in journalism with a solid understanding of the constraints and possibilities faced by the print and electronic media. The authors are not First Amendment absolutists but believe nonetheless that, in a democracy, the media should be subjected to minimal legal restraint. They also argue that freedom from legal restraint requires increased moral responsibility. Among the specific topics treated in the book are notions of morality and fairness, journalistic competence, standards of objectivity and accuracy, avoiding bias, avoiding harm, notions of public service, and maintaining public trust. Specific cases discussed include the controversy surrounding the CBS documentary "The Uncounted Enemy" and recent reporting on the AIDS epidemic. This is essential reading for anyone interested in the role the press plays in influencing social, economic, and political choices in modern life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195056884/?tag=2022091-20
Saving the Heart: The Battle to Conquer Coronary Disease
(Though still the leading cause of death, coronary heart d...)
Though still the leading cause of death, coronary heart disease is now killing half as many people in the U.S. as in the 1960s, partly because of innovative treatments like bypass surgery, balloon angioplasty, and thrombolytic drugs. This book tells the stories of the bold researchers who developed such treatments and explores the tough ethical questions raised by the big money being made in modern cardiology. Klaidman shows how clinicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs have devised radically new ways to treat a diseased heart. He examines the startling extent to which financial ambition has shaped the dynamics of cardiology--now a multi-billion dollar medical/academic/industrial/governmental hybrid--and the inevitable conflicts of interest such ambition creates. Can a patient's needs come first when market share and profits skew the focus away from medical prudence? Can clinical trials be both free of bias and fast enough to keep up with the flood of new drugs and high-tech devices? Klaidman tackles these questions using real cases, often in the context of wrenching bedside decisions. Immensely readable and packed with vivid detail, Saving the Heart explores the past, present and swiftly developing future of a high-stakes medical specialty. And it weaves into the fast moving narrative advice on how to make the right treatment choices and identify the best cardiologists and surgeons. If you are one of the 14 million Americans who suffers from coronary disease, Saving the Heart could save your life.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195112792/?tag=2022091-20
Health in the Headlines: The Stories Behind the Stories
(Reporting on health risks is rarely simple and straightfo...)
Reporting on health risks is rarely simple and straightforward. Scientific findings are often complex and ambiguous. Even researchers may disagree on their import. Relatively few journalists have special training in science or medicine. Sources of information are often biased, and there is constant pressure to convert dry, technical material into compelling, readable stories. No wonder reporters sometimes exaggerate or otherwise misinterpret the risks, or overemphasize the emotional side of scientific stories, or unwittingly introduce inaccuracies or make important omissions. All this leaves us--the newspaper reader or TV viewer--with many unanswered questions: Is borderline cholesterol a significant health risk? Has global warming already started? Is Alar a serious threat? Is it really dangerous to live near a nuclear reactor? In Health in the Headlines, Stephen Klaidman illuminates the tangle of science, politics, and economics that often obscures health reporting, focusing on seven major stories: EDB, radon, nuclear power, the greenhouse effect, AIDS, cholesterol, and smoking. In each section, Klaidman vividly recounts how the story developed and evaluates how the press performed. In the chapter on AIDS, for instance, he traces the story from the first reports by the CDC and the early articles by The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, to the dramatic increase in coverage following Rock Hudson's death. Klaidman finds that the science coverage of the AIDS crisis was highly competent, but the coverage of the human story and especially the political story (the Reagan Administration's inadequate funding of AIDS research, despite calling it their "number one health priority") was generally poor--on the rare occasion when they covered the story at all, most reporters uncritically accepted the Administration's side over that of AIDS activists (who were predominantly gay). Throughout the book, Klaidman provides illuminating insights into health-care reporting and he issues numerous caveats. He points out, for instance, that while reporters sometimes exaggerate health risks (such as at Love Canal), the very real threat posed by radon has been underplayed by the press, partly because there is no industry or government agency to cast as villain. And he warns that visual images used to dramatize a story may also skew it: an extremely rare side-effect of a drug, when featured on TV, leads to distorted gut-level conclusions about risk. Every day we hear news on cholesterol, asbestos, global warming--stories that are not only upsetting, but frequently confusing. Health in the Headlines gives us the insight to make more sense of these daily reports, so that we can better assess our risks and make more informed judgments.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195052986/?tag=2022091-20
Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry
(A chilling real-life medical thriller, Coronary chronicle...)
A chilling real-life medical thriller, Coronary chronicles the story of two highly respected heart doctors who violated the most sacred principle of their profession: First, do no harm. In the summer of 2002, fifty-five-year-old John Corapi, a Catholic priest with a colorful background, visited Dr. Chae Hyun Moon, a celebrated cardiologist in Redding, California. Corapi had been suffering from exhaustion and shortness of breath, and although a physical examination and a conventional stress test revealed nothing abnormal, Moon insisted that the calcium level in Corapi's coronary arteries called for a highly invasive diagnostic test: an angiogram. A chain-smoking Korean immigrant known for his gruff bedside manner, Moon performed the procedure briskly and immediately handed down a devastating diagnosis: "I'm sorry; there is nothing I can do for you. You need a triple bypass tomorrow morning." He then abruptly left the room. Several hours later, however, Moon inexplicably decided the surgery could wait until Corapi returned from a previously scheduled cross-country trip. Unnerved by the dire diagnosis and also by Moon's inconsistent statements, Corapi sought other opinions. To his amazement, a second, third, and fourth doctor found that his heart was perfectly healthy. In fact, for a man his age, Corapi's arteries were remarkably free of disease. Sensing a cause more disturbing than human error, Corapi took his story to the FBI. As local agent Mike Skeen soon discovered, Corapi was one of a number of people who had suspicions about Moon and Moon's go-to cardiac surgeon, Dr. Fidel Realyvasquez, an equally respected member of the close-knit northern California community. Working at a hospital owned by Tenet Healthcare, Moon would make the diagnoses and Realyvasquez would perform the surgeries. Together, these leaders of the Redding medical establishment put hundreds of healthy people at risk, some of whom never recovered. Soon Skeen launched a major investigation, interviewing numerous doctors and patients, and forty federal agents raided the hospital where the doctors worked. A timely and provocative dissection of America's medical-industrial complex, Coronary lays bare the financial structures that drive the American healthcare system, and which precipitated Moon's and Realyvasquez's actions. In a scheme that placed the demands of Wall Street above the lives of its patients, Tenet Healthcare rewarded doctors based on how much revenue they generated for the corporation. A meticulous three-year FBI investigation and hundreds of civil suits culminated in no criminal charges but a series of settlements with Tenet Healthcare and the doctors that totaled more than $450 million and likely put an end to Moon's and Realyvasquez's medical careers. The case's every twist and turn is documented here. A riveting, character-rich narrative and a masterpiece of long-form journalism, Coronary is as powerful as it is alarming. This is a hair-raising story of the hundreds of men and women who went under the knife, not in the name of medicine, but of profit and prestige. Brilliantly told, Stephen Klaidman's Coronary is a cautionary tale in the age of miracle medicine, and a shocking reminder to always get a second opinion.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743267559/?tag=2022091-20
Stephen David Klaidman
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Education
Student, City College of New York, 1959.
Career
Copy editor New York Times, New York City, 1962-1969. Deputy foreign editor The Washington Post, 1970-1975, reporter, 1976-1977. News editor, chief editorial writer International Herald Tribune, Paris, 1977-1982.
Senior research fellow Kennedy Institute Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington, 1982-2001. Consultant Department of Defense, Washington, 1982-1983, Department of Education, Washington, 1998-1999. Counselor Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, Washington, 1995-1997.
Achievements
Works
book
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Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry
(A chilling real-life medical thriller, Coronary chronicle...)
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The Virtuous Journalist
(This book combines the insights of a seasoned journalist ...)
-
Saving the Heart: The Battle to Conquer Coronary Disease
(Though still the leading cause of death, coronary heart d...)
-
Health in the Headlines: The Stories Behind the Stories
(Reporting on health risks is rarely simple and straightfo...)
- Health in the Headlines, the Stories Behind the Stories
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Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry
Interests
Connections
Married Kitty Cecile Ehrenreich, December 27, 1959. Children: Elyse Suzanne, Daniel Marc.
Awards
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Recipient 1st prize Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Media Studies Competition, 1991, Lowell Mellett award Pennsylvania State University, 1992. Grantee National Endowment of the Humanities, Washington, 1985.Recipient 1st prize Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Media Studies Competition, 1991, Lowell Mellett award Pennsylvania State University, 1992. Grantee National Endowment of the Humanities, Washington, 1985.