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 "HIV" ...
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What Killed Arafat?
This 50-minute film was the result of a nine month long cold case investigation into the suspicious death of Yasser Arafat, Palestine's iconic, revolutionary leader. After obtaining Arafat's entire original medical files, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, led by producer and reporter Clayton Swisher, crossed continents to track down and interview the French, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian doctors who had worked to save Arafat's life. Part I of "What Killed Arafat?" was able to easily shatter popular myths about what caused Arafat's precipitous decline from the onset of his illness on October 12, 2004 until his death on November 11th. Testimony from Arafat's doctors conclusively ruled out liver cirrhosis, cancer, even rumors of HIV. The scientific, evidence-based discoveries made in the Part II result from the work performed by a team of forensic pathologists, toxicologists, and radiation physicists from the University Center for Legal Medicine and Institute for Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Working without payment, they agreed to run a battery of sophisticated tests on a large gym bag containing Arafat’s last personal effects. The scientists discovered significant levels of reactor-made Polonium 210 contaminating areas of Arafat's personal effects that came into contact with his biological fluids. When the final results came back in late June, Al Jazeera hosted Mrs. Arafat in Doha to watch the Swiss explain the results on set. Upon witnessing their testimony, Ms. Arafat made a resolute, unanticipated surprise announcement, calling on the Palestinian Authority to exhume her husband's body for testing. Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed on November 27, 2012 so that the final samples could be retrieved. Whether the causes of Arafat's death are determined to be natural, inconclusive—or even murder—suffice it to say that Al Jazeera’s "What Killed Arafat?" and the resulting investigations and exhumation will have inched the world closer to understanding what did not, and possibly for the first time, what did claim the life of this historic and controversial personality.
Tags: Science; death; biology; investigation; exhumation; testing
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"Insurer Targeted HIV Patients to Drop Coverage"
In this four-month investigation, reporter Murray Waas reveals that the prominent insurance company WellPoint was targeting "policyholders recently diagnosed with breast cancer for the wrongful and sometimes illegal termination of their health insurance." Waas interviews several women whose insurance policies were terminated based on "flimsy or questionable evidence." Similarly, the insurance company Fortis was found to be targeting recently diagnosed HIV patients.
Tags: cancer; HIV; breast cancer; Fortis; WellPoint; insurance; United Health Care; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Obama
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"KZN Reverands Prey On The Dying"
At one time, Reverends Harris and De Witt brought comfort to the patients of The Dream Centre, an HIV-Aids hospice center in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This was before they fled the country with a stash of cash. The two men had been largely inflating their subsidy claims to the Department of Health and taking the extra money for their own use.
Tags: Cape Town; KwaZulu-Natal; The Dream Centre; National Department of Health; Les Harris; Neville de Witt; Mophela Housing Project
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Positive
"The state of Illinois has increased its HIV spending by tens of millions of dollars-creating two new grant programs designed to combat the epidemic among African Americans. One of the grant programs was mismanaged and much of the funding does not target the highest risk population." Furthermore, the health department and non-profits were either understaffed or waiting for the funds to be received before they could treat anyone.
Tags: Illinois; AIDS; African Americans; Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV); Grant programs
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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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Doubts About Cassey
Over the course of a decade, AIDS activist Cassey Weierbach told her tragic story of contracting HIV from a man who raped her. The local people in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley helped her when she needed it, as they "held her hand when she was laid up in a hospital bed. They’ve cooked her meals and done her laundry. They’ve passed the plate for her on Sunday and paid her rent when it was overdue." But a pastor revealed her accusation that Weierbach did not have AIDS, and was deceiving everyone. Others questioned the veracity of Weierbach's story, as it also included details of a best friend, the alleged rapist's daughter and also a rape victim of the same man, shooting herself in front of Weierbach. Weierbach also claimed her father died in a famous plane crash. Both individuals were still alive and well, and quoted for the story. The Morning Call tells the story of a community and a woman who may or may not have been telling the truth about an affliction with a terrible disease. In the wake of the story, Weierbach was charged with defrauding the state of $67,000 worth of medical benefits.
Tags: AIDS; HIV; Munchausen syndrome; fake illness; fraud; medical fraud
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Concrete walls
This story examined the rape of a gay man in Akron, Ohio by an HIV-positive man. There was DNA evidence against the attacker, and his statements were suspect. The investigation was stalled and riddled with mistakes. Prosecutors admitted that rumors of the victim's flamboyance kept them from pressing charges.
Tags: rape; DNA evidence; HIV; gay rape; prosecution; homophobia
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"The Pledge"
This story explains changes in Public Health policies of the Bush administration, particularly the approach to preventing sexually transmitted diseases among young people. For 20 years the policy had been to get kids to use condoms; a policy that worked. Since the advent of the Bush administration five years ago, the policy has shifted to "No sex before marriage" and the government has spent almost $1 billion to get the message across. Part of the strategy has been to convince young people that condoms are not safe.
Tags: Public health policy; HIV; AIDS; sex education; sexually transmitted diseases; STD's
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Storming the Court: How a Band of Yale Law Students Sued the President -- And Won
This book tells the story of how Yale law students and human rights lawyers teamed up in the early 1990s to take on the U.S. Government. 300 Haitian refugees were being held in secret Guantanamo Bay detention camps because they were HIV positive. The team of students and lawyers sued the government for their release, and won the case. The story is especially relevant in the post- 9/11 world, where Guantanamo Bay is once again a prominent example of government abuse.
Tags: Guantanamo Bay; Yale Law School; Harold Koh; student activism; HIV; AIDS; political asylum; political refugees; Haiti
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Playing it Unsafe: Bareback parties, HIV and danger in numbers
This investigation explores the rise of "bareback parties" in the Detroit area, where gay men meet to have unprotected sex. The reporter talked to doctors, psychologists and members of the "barebacking" community to help explain the various aspects of the phenomenon.
Tags: sex; AIDS; HIV; homosexuality; parties