The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Brand Name" ...
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No-Show Casket
An invesitgation of Batesville Casket Company, an on-line business that has no permission to sell certain brand-name caskets who has a history of frauding customers, never delivering caskets and runnning off with customer's money.
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Bad Bargain
This article identifies several people who suffered consequences after switching from brand name drugs to generic ones. Furthermore, this article identifies loopholes that allow these generic drugs to reach the market. These generics, many of us believe are the same as the brand name ones, are actual substandard and un-equivalent.
Tags: Prescriptions; Drugs; Generic; Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Insurance companies; Brand Name; Doctors; Pharmacy; Pharmaceuticals
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The Price of Bananas
In Colombia a paramilitary death squad named the "head-cutters" have killed and tortured many residents, but what few know is that the group was paid for years by corporations doing business in the area. One of the companies was Chaquita Brands International, which admitted making $1.7 million "protection" payments over a six-year period.
Tags: execution; torture; Fernando Aguirre; Salvatore Mancuso; extortion; Mendellin
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Divine Intervention: U.S. AIDS Policy
"The Center’s year-long investigation revealed how rigid rules and funding earmarks of President's Bush $15-billion initiative to fight HIV/AIDS abroad- the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief- hinder effective HIV programming and frustrate countries struggling with the pandemic."
Tags: AIDS; HIV; South Africa; PEPFAR; Ethiopia; Haiti; condoms; education; generic drugs; brand name drugs
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World's Cops Rec Up Strategies to nab cross-border car thieves.
Using techniques pioneered by drug traffickers and gun runners, illicit traders are plying cargo with brand names like Mercedes, Cadillac, and Lexus. Law enforcement and other experts say the worldwide trade in stolen cars and trucks is booming.
Tags: stolen cars; motor vehicles; smugglers
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Feed 5: Best of Show and Tell
1) Jennifer Kraus (WTVF-Nashville) This story exposes problems at the Nashville office of international charity "Feed the Children." In a four-month investigation, WTVF-TV's undercover cameras caught the charity's staff loading up their personal cars with donated items and taking the items home. 2) Deborah Sherman (WFXT - Boston) Costa Rican trips for child sex. Actually spoke with girls who used to get paid by American tourists for sex. Focuses on one area man charged with this crime. 3) Anna Werner, David Raziq (KHOU-Houston) KHOU-TV reports that "You're in physical pain. You need help. So you go to your doctor expecting needed relief and comfort. But what if in the process of treating you, you realize this healer's touch has become 'sexual?' That's what dozens of Houston women claimed happened to them when they were referred to a local health professional, a professional they claimed used their trust to molest and even rape them. His name is Shin Higashiura and he claimed to be a Master of Shiatsu, also known as acupressure, a Japanese massage therapy that promises health benefits...." 4) Jilda Unruh (WCCO-Minneapolis) An investigation reveals that automatic door sensors can't detect certain colors. The doors often close on elderly people, causing them harm. 5) Tom Merriman/Jeff Harris (WEWS-Cleveland) The story investigates how state-trained lifeguards perform on state beaches as compared to privately trained lifeguards on private beaches. Follows both teams though a simulation. The state team fails horribly and never recovers the dummy planted for them to rescue. 6) Jim Schaefer; Shellee Smith (WXYZ-Detroit) WXYZ-TV discovered that the leaders of Highland Park, a poor city surrounded by Detroit, had virtually ignored a major problem in the 911 emergency response system while continuing to enjoy the relatively expensive perks of their jobs. While claiming there was no money in the budget to fix the problem, the mayor leased a brand-new Lincoln with city cash. Undercover video found citizens at risk, fire fighters in danger and no one helping. 7) Drew Griffin (KCBS-Los Angeles) "The Real ConAir" Investigation reveals department of corrections transporting convicts on commercial flights. Passengers are not told who's sitting beside them. Planes are forced to land because of disturbances during the flight. A girl is sexually assaulted by one of these convicts. 8) Robb Leer; Maria Tomasch (KSTP-Minneapolis) Inmates can change their names on the taxpayer's dime. 9) Jeremy Rogalski; Bill Dutton; Gerry Lanosga; Kathleen Johnston (WTHR-Indianapolis) WTHR-TV reports that "a source mentioned to us that numerous DUI cases were being dismissed because police witnesses fail to appear in court... After we crunched a slice of our county's criminal justice data ... We found thousands of DUI cases - nearly one in ten - thrown out because cops didn't show..." 10) Wes Williams; C.J. Ward (KPNX-Phoenix) Security guards with criminal records have a "License to Steal." 11) Tony Kovaleski; Matt Goldberg (KPRC-Houston) Ninety-eight guns were discovered in schools in 10 of Houston's largest school districts -- that works out to 5,864 students per gun. 12) Phil Williams; Chris Clark (WTVF-Nashville) WTVF-TV's investigation into the backgrounds of school teachers found more than three dozen convicted felons working in Metro Nashville-Davidson County schools. 13) Chris Halsne; Kim Albro; Dave Weed (KWTV-Oklahoma City) Voters handed Oklahoma City Schools a 93 million dollar bond in 1993 to improve schools. The money is now gone, but many projects remain unfinished. KWTV-TV's investigation found millions of dollars in waste, fraud and mismanagement. 14) Laure Quinlivan; Jeff Keene; Ken Fulk; Mark Shafer; Scott Diener; Stuart Zanger (WCPO-Cincinnati) WCPO-TV's investigation "... to monitor County officials as they began spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money... earmarked to build two, new sports stadiums for our city's professional sports teams, the Bengals and Red. As (the) investigation enters its third year, work on the first stadium is two-thirds complete and ground will soon break on the second. Already, our investigation has revealed broken promises, manipulation of numbers in official reports, political cronyism in contract awards, creation of 'pass-through' companies and other questionable and possibly illegal activities...." 15) Jim Barry; John Campbell; Sam Zeff; Jennifer Snell; Denise Haley; Brad Naw (WTXF-Philadelphia) After transit union strike crippled Philadelphia's bus and subway service for forty days, WTXF-TV investigated the region's transportation agency - Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. SEPTA is one of the largest and most expensive transit systems in the county. This investigation exposed a widespread culture of laziness and dishonest work habits that was allowing hundreds of buses with potentially dangerous problems out onto the street each day. 16)Darcy Spears; Kim Kruger (KVBC-Las Vegas) "Taken for a Ride". Taxi drivers getting kickbacks for taking clients to certain bars/stripclubs.
Tags: TAPE; Investigative reporting; computer-assisted reporting; IRE; FOI; CAR; no transcripts
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Sweat and Tears (Sweatshop series)
A Daily News investigation reveals that "New York City's garment industry routinely violates federal and state wage and hour laws." All major retailers sell clothes made in New York sweatshops by exploiting illegal Chinese immigrants. Garment workers work long hours for seven days a week, and get wages below the minimum of $5.15 per hour. Federal labor officials, as well as a state labor task force, keep "violations secret from retailers to protect brand name reputations and preserve business for local manufacturers and contractors." The investigation examines the price-making principles of the apparel market, and finds that avoiding illegal practices will have to either raise the clothes' prices, or cut the retailers' profits.
Tags: CAR; business; wages; unions; Chinese immigrants; illegal immigration; Federal Trade Commission; FOI requests; exploitation; teen fashions; Jenna LaneRampage; Dollhouse; Periscope; Asian Americans; civil rights violations; INS; OSHA; workplace safety; database mapping project
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Generic Drugs: The Stalling Game
Consumer Reports investigates tactics used by brand-name drug manufacturers to delay the entry of generic drugs to the marketplace.
Tags: generic drugs; medicine; cost; Consumer Reports; business; insider information; FTC; trade; pharmaceuticals
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The Stalling Game
Consumer Report looks at how "sweetheart deals and patent extensions keep lower-cost generic drugs from consumers." The story lists several approaches that both generic manufacturers and brand-name companies have used to gain and keep market exclusivity. These include: "sneaking patent-existing riders into complex and unrelated legislative procedures; paying chemical supply houses not to sell needed ingredients to rival drug manufacturers; paying competitors to stay out of the market; filing unfounded "citizen petitions" and patents to delay the marketing of a generic drug." The reporter points to specific examples of how pharmaceutical companies have taken advantage of loopholes in current law.
Tags: generic drugs; over-the-counter; Federal Trade Commission (FTC); drug patents; sales; research and development; FDA; health; medicine; Prescription Drug Competition Act
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Child Play: Pharmaceutical Firms Win Big on Plan to Test Adult Drugs on Kids
The Wall Street Journal reports on "a drug-industry financial bonanza," resulting from the additional marketing exclusivity that drug makers have won by starting pediatric trials of adult medicine. The story examines the loopholes that allow the pharmaceuticals giants to protect themselves from generic competition half-a-year and earn extra revenues. The reporter reveals that "makers of generic drugs ... could lose $10.7 billion in sales over 20 years as a result of the six-month extension" for the patents of the brand-name drugs. The story looks at a number of flaws in the regulatory process.
Tags: Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Eli Lilly; Bristol-Myers; Merck; Schering-Plough; public health; children; juveniles; law