James W. Farris

James Farris is a former Department of Health and Human Services officials who now teaches and writes about health care.

Health-related investigations snagged both top spots in the Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism this year. The awards, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, judge stories based on “investigative enterprise, strong business theme, writing style, clarity and impact.”

Reuters’ Murray Waas took the top spot, called the Gold Award, for “Diagnosed with Breast Cancer, Dropped by Insurer (PDF),” an investigation of WellPoint. Reuters published a series of stories by Murray Waas documenting wrongdoing by a number of health insurance companies, the final one being an investigative report as to how WellPoint dropped customers with breast cancer.