I’m pleased to report that the American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors recently honored two of my stories — “Katrina’s legacy: Moving beyond the storm” and “Katrina’s legacy: Rethinking disaster planning” — with the gold award in their best feature article series category.

I was afforded the opportunity to travel to New Orleans last year to do some first-hand reporting on how its recovery has progressed. I owe a debt to my editor, Damon Adams, for helping to make that happen. Click here for the slide show that ran online with the “Moving Beyond the Storm” story. And here’s a little music:

Back in October, I blogged about my brief appearance on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” to discuss the issues raised in my American Medical News story, “Put me in, Doc.” Well, now you can see me in action. Thanks to Brad Priller for his help ripping the video, which you can see below.

Well, after my recent TV appearance, it is only natural to follow up by broadening my media reach to include the world of books.

A January 2009 feature article I wrote for American Medical News, “Redefining death: A new ethical dilemma,” is included in a new textbook issued by Greenhaven Press. The book, “Bioethics in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein,” is part of the publisher’s “Social Issues in Literature” series aimed at high-school students and is meant to be a companion for when they read the novel.

The book is broken into three sections — one with background about Shelley, the second featuring commentaries on bioethical issues in the novel, and the third highlighting “contemporary perspectives on bioethics.” That third section is where my story on transplant physicians pushing the boundaries of what constitutes death comes in. Greenhaven sent me a complimentary copy of the book, and perhaps this will push me to actually read the Shelley classic.

The important thing to note is that my prose may now potentially help educate America’s youth — a frightening prospect, indeed. This is almost as scary as when one of my articles — about a poll on physicians’ views of doctor-assisted suicide — was cited by a Montana judge in her opinion (page 22) granting terminally ill patients in that state the constitutional right to physician-aided death. Alarmingly, my sphere of influence is growing ever wider.

Yours truly on ESPN. Photo by Pam Dolan.

So, my “Put me in, Doc” story blew up last week and by Friday, landed me on ESPN for a brief, live on-camera segment with Bob Ley on “Outside the Lines.”

When Dr. Haraldson told me the story that I used as the lede in my article, I knew it would make a splendid anecdote to illustrate the team physician’s ethical dilemma.

I did not predict, however,  that it would create such a splash in Dallas, Fort Worth and across the college football and sports world. That just shows that my news judgment still has a ways to go.

Here is a rough transcript of my ESPN appearance (scroll down, no video found yet UPDATE: here’s the video), which includes a few of the sweetest words I’ve ever heard uttered: “Now we say hello to Kevin O’Reilly, who reports for American Medical News and first broke this story.”

I mean, I always thought so, but now it’s been confirmed by an outside source.

The American Society of Business Publication Editors‘ Midwest-South Region handed out its annual “Azbee” awards last night and I was a winner. One of my articles from last year — “Oregon still stands alone: Ten years of physician-assisted suicide” — won the gold award in the feature article category.

Here are the first few grafs of the story, which ran months before Washington became the second state to legalize doctor-aided dying:

It was 10 springs ago that a Portland woman in her mid-80s sat to talk about her impending death. Doctors guessed the metastatic breast cancer wracking her body would kill her within two months. As the city shook off its winter slumber, the woman — whose identity is still a secret — anticipated her eternal rest.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said in a recording later made available to reporters. “I can’t see myself living a few more months like this.”

Disease set her on the path toward death, but the woman was determined to choose when and how to take her final steps. For that, she needed a doctor’s help.

On a Tuesday in 1998, in the presence of her family, she became the first patient to commit suicide with a physician’s aid under Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act.

A physician prescribed a lethal dose of barbiturates. The woman washed down a mixture of the medication and syrup with a glass of brandy and died shortly thereafter.

Whether the path chosen was a victory for patient autonomy or an ethical tragedy depends upon one’s view of this wrenching issue. But what is clear — and what comes as a surprise given the predictions of supporters and opponents of physician-assisted suicide — is that it is a path still lightly traveled.

Through the end of last year, only 340 more Oregonians had chosen physician-assisted suicide. And after a decade, Oregon still stands as the lone state to legalize the practice.

There is no tidal wave of patients moving to Oregon to die, and there is no evidence of a slippery slope toward involuntary euthanasia there, as opponents once feared. At the same time, there is no sign that many states will rush to follow Oregon’s lead on physician-assisted suicide, as supporters still hope.

Though Oregon’s law remains seldom used and unduplicated, its impact on physicians, patients and the movement to improve end-of-life care cannot be overstated.

The whole shebang.