Thomas, Hedley 1967(?)–

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Thomas, Hedley 1967(?)–

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1967; married Ruth Mathewson (a journalist); children: Alexander, Sarah.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Brookfield, Queensland, Australia.

CAREER:

Journalist. Courier Mail, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, beginning in 1988, began as junior reporter, became foreign correspondent at London bureau; Australian, Brisbane, senior reporter, until 2008; Queensland Gas Company, communications officer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Walkley Award, 1999, 2005, 2007, for investigative, news, and features writing; Queensland Premier's Literary Award, 2005, for work advancing public debate; Local Hero Award, Australian of the Year Honours, 2006; Sir Keith Murdoch Award.

WRITINGS:

Sick to Death: A Manipulative Surgeon and a Health System in Crisis—A Disaster Waiting to Happen, Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest, New South West, Australia), 2007.

Contributor to the South China Morning Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

Hedley Thomas is an Australian journalist who became the subject of a national news story in 2002. His house was attacked while he and his family were sleeping inside. Police confirmed that four shots from a high-caliber weapon hit the house, with one bullet reportedly hitting a pillow in the master bedroom. He and his family were relocated for their protection, and shortly thereafter, Thomas began working for the Australian as a senior reporter in the Brisbane office. By 2008, however, Thomas announced plans to retire from journalism, citing a decline in enthusiasm and safety concerns for his family. He then began working on the executive management communications team for the Queensland Gas Company. As a journalist, Thomas received the prestigious Walkley Award for investigative, news, and features writing on three separate occasions. He also is the recipient of the 2005 Queensland Premier's Literary Award and a Sir Keith Murdoch Award, among other honors.

Thomas published his first book, Sick to Death: A Manipulative Surgeon and a Health System in Crisis—A Disaster Waiting to Happen, in 2007. The book is based on of his award-winning reporting exposing a cover-up on the deaths and maiming of hundreds of patients of Dr. Jayant Patel at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia. After being reprimanded by hospitals in the United States, Patel was made director of surgery at the state-run hospital in 2003. Nurse Toni Hoffman warned officials of the doctor's misdoings but was ignored. Upon the publication of Thomas's investigative stories about the doctor, the full story was revealed, embarrassing the state medical board and local police.

Booklist contributor Donna Chavez commented that Sick to Death "is a story that, though true, is dramatic enough for fiction." Chavez proposed that "thanks to Thomas" were in order for his investigative reporting on the story. A critic writing in Kirkus Reviews remarked that Thomas has a "penchant for including a myriad of details that add color to the story but halt the narrative flow" but concluded that the book is "a thoroughgoing expose of an appalling situation."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2007, Donna Chavez, review of Sick to Death: A Manipulative Surgeon and a Health System in Crisis—A Disaster Waiting to Happen, p. 34.

Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2007, review of Sick to Death.

Medical Journal of Australia, January 7, 2008, David Molloy, review of Sick to Death, p. 25.

Sydney Morning Herald, October 24, 2002, "Journalist Relocated after Shots Fired at Home."