APS Press Room
| For immediate release May 6, 2006 |
Contact: Chuck Weber (847) 705-1802 |
AMERICAN PAIN SOCIETY HONORS NEW YORK TIMES HEALTH COLUMNIST
SAN ANTONIO, May 6, 2006 – The American Pain Society (APS) has awarded the 2006 Kathleen M. Foley Journalist Award for excellence in reporting on pain and management to Jane Brody, health columnist for the New York Times.
The award was announced today at the annual scientific meeting of the American Pain Society. APS established the Foley Award in 2002 as one of its public awareness initiatives to support and promote the Decade of Pain Control and Research.
“We are pleased to honor Jane Brody for outstanding coverage that raised awareness of the plight of those who have pain every day and may or may not receive optimal treatment for it,” said APS President Dennis Turk, Ph.D. “We hope this recognition shows the pain community values the contributions of journalists who cover pain issues. Their reporting helps communicate the message that persistent pain is a serious public health problem, fueled in part by those who feel stigmatized and are hesitant to seek treatment.”
Turk added that APS selected Brody for the Foley Award for her ongoing pain coverage in her weekly Times columns, titled Personal Health. Three were cited as noteworthy examples of her reporting on pain care. They are: “Let’s Get Serious About Relieving Chronic Pain” (Jan. 10, 2006), “Perils of Pain Relief Often Hide in Tiny Type” (May 3, 2005) and A Fight for Full Disclosure of the Possible Pain” (March 8, 2005).
As the leading professional society devoted exclusively to pain, pain management and pain research, APS sponsors the Kathleen M. Foley Journalist Award to recognize excellence in reporting pain-related topics. The award is designed to honor the work of journalists whose coverage of events, scientific discoveries, patient care, issues and policies contribute to furthering public awareness and understanding of pain and pain-related issues.
The APS award is named for Dr. Foley in recognition of her contributions to furthering professional and public understanding about the need for effective cancer and end-of-life pain management. She is an attending neurologist for the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York and director of the Project on Death in America sponsored by the Open Society Institute.
Eligibility was limited to work published or broadcast from Jan.1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 by writers and reporters who receive at least 50 percent of their income from journalistic activity, either as an employee of an independent media outlet or a free-lancer.
Nominations were submitted by journalists and by APS members on behalf of specific journalists. The applications were judged by an independent panel of members of the APS Task Force on the Decade of Pain Control and Research.