Felice J. Freyer

Career Trajectory: From Chronicling ALS to Leading Health Journalism

• 1980s–2000s: Early work at The Providence Journal established her signature approach: pairing epidemiological data with longitudinal patient narratives. Her 1990s series tracking an ALS patient’s fight for physician-assisted suicide rights became a benchmark for ethical reporting on terminal illness.
• 2014–2024: As Boston Globe’s health policy reporter, she exposed gaps in opioid crisis response through a 9-part series combining ER intake logs with interviews from 47 families. This led to Massachusetts’ 2018 harm reduction policy reforms.
• 2024–present: Transitioning to freelance, Freyer now mentors through Emerson College’s journalism program while investigating structural racism in medical diagnostics for Harvard Public Health.

Defining Works

Research Do overdose prevention centers work in the U.S.? Researchers want to know

Freyer’s January 2025 investigation into Rhode Island’s first state-sanctioned overdose prevention center combines biometric data from 127 participants with ethnographic observations. By tracking reductions in EMS calls (38% within 3 months) alongside personal recovery journeys, she challenges bipartisan resistance to harm reduction models. The piece influenced federal NIH grant allocations for further research.

Felice Freyer shares approach to writing about a racist lung function test

This October 2024 methodological deep dive reveals how spirometers’ race-adjusted algorithms falsely elevated Black patients’ lung capacity readings by 12–15%. Freyer traces the practice to 19th-century eugenics studies while profiling Boston Medical Center’s transition to race-neutral diagnostics. Her FOIA requests uncovered 23,000 disputed disability claims linked to flawed tests.

Sent Home To Heal, Patients Avoid Wait for Rehab Home Beds

Analyzing Medicare discharge records, Freyer exposed how 72-hour hospital bed delays for rehab-bound patients cost Massachusetts hospitals $2.3M monthly in 2024. Her profile of a home-based PT program reduced readmission rates by 41% compared to facility care, prompting Blue Cross Blue Shield’s 2025 coverage expansion.

Beat Analysis & Pitching Guidance

1. Focus on Policy-Impact Intersections

Freyer prioritizes stories demonstrating how individual health struggles reflect broader systemic failures. Successful pitches connect patient narratives with legislative or institutional change metrics. Example: Her 2023 series on long COVID clinics paired patient diaries with Medicaid reimbursement data to show coverage gaps.

2. Leverage Unconventional Data Sources

She frequently uses medical billing codes, clinical trial dropout rates, and EMS response logs as narrative entry points. A 2024 story on ER boarding crises originated from an emergency physician’s analysis of triage sheet timestamps.

3. Avoid Individual Triumph Narratives

While Freyer celebrates patient resilience, she avoids “heroic survivor” framing that obscures structural barriers. Instead, highlight community-driven solutions like her 2025 piece on Indigenous harm reduction circles reducing neonatal abstinence syndrome by 29%.

Awards & Industry Recognition

• New England Association of Newspaper Editors’ “Master Reporter” (2008): Awarded for her 18-month investigation into pharmaceutical kickbacks influencing opioid prescriptions across 23 Rhode Island clinics.
• Pulitzer Prize Finalist (2020): As part of The Boston Globe’s team examining psychiatric boarding crises, Freyer’s analysis of 14,000 court-ordered hospitalization records revealed 72-hour ER delays for 1 in 3 patients.
• NIHCM Foundation Health Journalism Award (2022): Recognized for exposing racial disparities in postpartum hemorrhage treatment through a study of 4,000 delivery records at Mass General Brigham.