John Bonifield
Supervising Producer, CNN Health
John Bonifield is a supervising producer for the CNN Medical Unit, working primarily with CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
How paralyzed patients are able to stand again
By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent, and John Bonifield, CNNIn what's being hailed as a breakthrough in spinal cord injury research, four men paralyzed from the chest down have risen from their wheelchairs on their own volition and effort.
One year later, your ALS Ice Bucket money goes to ...
By John Bonifield, CNNTo raise awareness for ALS, Chris Kennedy poured a bucket of ice water over his head. A year ago Wednesday, he posted the video to his social network.
What to know about St. Mary's children's heart surgery mortality rates
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNCNN's investigation of pediatric open heart mortality rates at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, showed that the hospital had a much higher death rate than the national average. Both the hospital and state of Florida have responded with documents that criticize CNN's methodology.
Surgical death rates for babies kept secret from parents
By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN Senior Medical CorrespondentTake a look at a newborn's tiny fist. Now imagine the fist is a heart -- they're about the same size -- and a surgeon must operate on it. Patch up holes. Widen vessels the diameter of a cocktail straw. Sew in thin plastic tubing.
Secret deaths: CNN finds high surgical death rate for children at a Florida hospital
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNN MedicalShe was only 7 weeks old, weighed a mere 10 pounds, and had just had delicate surgery to widen a narrowing in her aorta, the vessel that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. If that wasn't enough, after the surgery, Layla McCarthy stopped moving her legs. The doctors couldn't explain why.
Hospital suspends elective heart surgeries on children after CNN investigation
By Elizabeth Cohen and John BonifieldSt. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, has suspended elective pediatric heart surgeries after a CNN investigation calculated that the program had a mortality rate for open heart surgeries three times higher than the national average.
CNN report on high mortality rate for babies at Florida hospital leads to inquiry
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNThe Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has launched an investigation into deaths of babies following open heart surgeries at St. Mary's Medical Center in Florida.
9th baby dies after heart surgery at a Florida hospital
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNN MedicalA baby who had heart surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in Florida died Tuesday, at least the ninth infant to pass away after such a procedure since the program opened at the end of 2011.
'Fearless' Ebola nurse trains at Emory University
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNJust eight months ago, a young woman named Fatu Kekula was single-handedly trying to save her Ebola-stricken family, donning trash bags to protect herself against the deadly virus.
Real 'Fault in Our Stars' couple reunited by hope
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNKatie and Dalton Prager, a young couple who both have cystic fibrosis, celebrated happy news when they reunited Tuesday afternoon after nearly five months apart: Katie is on her way to getting a lifesaving lung transplant.
A real 'Fault in Our Stars' couple
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNLate one night on Facebook, a girl with cystic fibrosis messaged a boy with cystic fibrosis, and both their lives were changed forever.
Chimps still stuck in research labs despite promise of retirement
By John Bonifield and Elizabeth Cohen, CNNDespite a promise more than a year and half ago by the National Institutes of Health to retire the vast majority of government research chimpanzees to sanctuaries, hundreds of chimps are still being held for potential medical experimentation, many of them aging and intentionally infected with HIV or hepatitis.
Baby buried by 2010 Haiti quake: See her now
By Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNFor 10 days following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, two CNN colleagues and I lived in a tent hospital run by Project Medishare. Our hearts ached as we heard the cries of the injured, as we watched surgeons performed amputations without general anesthesia, as people died in front of our eyes.
New science helps a paralyzed man move his legs for the first time in years
Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, CNNEvery morning for 2½ years, Calven Goza tried to move his legs, hoping against hope and medical science that this time, this day, would be different.
