During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists worldwide suddenly found themselves on the health beat, trying to make sense of competing claims, varied specialists, and a science that seems to change by the day. This session takes you from COVID-19 to drug development and approval, evaluating scientific studies, understanding conflicts of interest, and exposing fraud and malpractice. Rivera and Tinari are authors of the GIJN guide Investigating Health and Medicine, available in seven languages. (Note: GIJC21 has two sessions on health and medicine, one on Tues. timed for the Americas and Europe/Africa/Middle East and one on Thurs. for Asia/Pacific.)