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 "New York health department" ...
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"Physicians on Pharma's Payroll: Educators or Marketers?"
This story focuses on doctors as industry speakers and their relationship with pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies claim to choose speakers based on expertise, but further investigation shows that many of the hired physicians have "serious transgressions on their state records." They also tend to be "high prescribers" of the company's products.
Tags: pharmacy; prescriptions; Geodon; Pfizer; antipsychotic drugs; pharmaceutical companies; Department of Health; New York; Food and Drug Administration
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Private Security in a Post-9/11 World
As the focal point of a study of the private guard industry in New York state, WNYC looks at Tristar Patrol Services, "which had seen a dramatic expansion after the September 11 attack in NYC, getting more than $80 million in contract work with the City of New York." The company had more than a thousand employees, mostly young minority males, and they had the task of protecting all of the city's office space, infrastructure and Fire Department facilities. The investigation found that Tristar's owner, Gary Zimmer, had been convicted of assault and had to resign as a police officer for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, yet attained the right to hold a security guard company license when a judge, believing the owner's misrepresentation of his criminal case, granted him an exemption from state law. In addition, there were other issues as Tristar "had been disqualified from doing state work for misrepresenting it had properly credentialed guards, but went on to win a multi-million dollar, multi-year City contract." The company failed to properly compensate guards, including not paying for vacation or advanced state security credentials, and Tristar also did not pay "hundreds of thousands of dollars it was required to pay the union representing the guards to cover union dues and health and welfare benefits required by the contract." But because of the New York Secretary of State's lack of investigators, regulations were not enforced. Also, there is no uniform requirement across the country for the training and qualifications for security guards and companies.
Tags: Private security; Sept. 11, 2001; Tristar Patrol Services; Gary Zimmer; New York City security
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Harsh Medicine
In New York ,Prison Health,Inc., was the health care provider for pre-trial detainees and troubled youths at Rikers Island and inside the city Juvenile Justice Department. It is also the largest company responsible for medical and mental health care in American jails. However, Prison Health was operating illegally in New York and also was responsible for multiple deaths due to its providing of inadequate medical or mental heath care.
Tags: health care; prisons; mental health care; medical health care; Prison Health,Inc.
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"A crisis in foster care: Hardships prevalent for those raising children's children
This investigation found that nearly a third more New York grandparents are raising their grandchildren than a decade ago, and of those, a disproportionate number have fallen into poverty. An unresponsive child-welfare system has forced these grandparents into making a tough decision: Place their grandchildren into foster care and become foster parents themselves in order to receive government aid, or ignore the foster care system and scrounge to support their families.
Tags: grandparents; grandchildren; foster care; poverty; census; child welfare; adoption; Children and Family Services; Department of Social Services; Department of Health and Human Services; guardianship; CAR; computer-assisted reporting
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2002 IRE National Conference Show and Tell Tape #2
2002 IRE National Conference (San Francisco) Show and Tell Tape #2 features the following stories 1) Tim Minton (WNBC-New York City) Security at local hospitals are lacking. 2) Brian Collister (KMOL-San Antonio) An inordinate number of court case have been thrown out of the local county court because judges ruled the defendants lacked a speedy trial. 3) Clips from a PBS project concerning scientists' genetic experiments. 4) Kevin Quinn (KFSN-Fresno) Area residents are suspicious of a local Muslim village called Baladullah, where the sounds gunfire has been heard emanating from the grounds. 5) Dan Noyes (KGO-San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose) Guardrails in California are often installed incorrectly, turning the protective barriers into potential dangers. 6) Craig Fiegener (ABC 30 Action News) Fifteen travelers are swindled by a travel agency, which sold them unconfirmed tickets for a cruise. 7) Joel Grover (CBS 2-Los Angeles) An undercover investigation reveals that valet parking attendants at LA's hottest night clubs steal from their customers. 8) Paul Gallagher (60 Minutes) An investigation of the U.S. Marine Corps' MV-22 "Osprey" aircraft reveals serious mechanical problems that contributed to two crashes in 2000, which killed 23 Marines. 60 Minutes also reports that "senior officers in the Osprey squadron had deliberately falsified maintenance records and lied about the aircraft's readiness -- in an apparent effort by the Marine Corps to win Pentagon approval for full production of the aircraft, at a projected cost to U.S. taxpayers of $41 billion." 9) Tom Martino (KDVR-Denver) An undercover investigation reveals that many beauty salons use a dangerous chemical to make fake nails. 10) (WGHP-Greensboro) An investigation reveals that construction works who built the homes in a subdivision failed to install the chimneys correctly, making them dangerous for those who live there. 11) Darcy Spears (KVBC-Las Vegas) A hearing aid center uses bait and switch tactics to take advantage of the elderly. 12) Jim Kenyon (WSTM-Syracuse, New York) Criminals in Canada involved in advance fee loan scams trick Americans out of thousands of dollars. 13) Bob Segall (WITI-Milwaukee) An undercover investigation reveals that security guards at a local county courthouse don't do a good job of stopping banned items from entering the building. 14) Karen Hensel (WISH-Indianapolis) Marian County inspectors don't always review homes under construction. 15) (WBTV-Charlotte, N.C.) Members of the Iredell-Statesville School Board use district funds to attend an education conference -- but then skip the convention and go on a vacation to Disney World, all on the taxpayer's dime. 16) Valeri Williams (WFAA-Dallas/Fort Worth) WFAA-TV follows up its 2000 IRE Awards entry with this return investigation into Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. Reporter Williams and producer Schucker continued their investigation, focusing on Dr. Lydia Grotti and her connection to suspicious and overlooked deaths in the emergency room. As a result of WFAA-TV's investigation the Texas Department of Health began conducting its own investigation and discovered additional deaths that took place in the ER. The county district attorney's office called in a special prosecutor to examine a total of eight suspicious deaths in connection with Dr. Grotti at the hospital. On Tape #2 is a short clip of Williams' work. Tape #3 features the entire series of stories she played at Show and Tell.
Tags: TAPE; San Francisco; conference; no transcripts; IRE
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Inquiry Creates Aura Of Doubt Around Doctor And Hospital
The New York Times reports on an inquiry into a Staten Island doctor that has pitted his supporters against the New York Department of Health. Dr. Ehud Arbit had previously received a year of probation for operating on the wrong side of a woman's brain. Now he stands accused of more mistakes, but these are the result of politicking at the hospital, he claims. The investigation falls into the larger picture of competition between Manhattan and other area hospitals for specialty procedures.
Tags: competence; medical error; doctor error
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Rampant Obesity, a Debilitating Reality for the Urban
New York Times reports on the correlation between race and income level in terms of obesity rates. Department of Agriculture experts say 'minorities have poorer diets from a nutritional point of view . . and are less physically active.' "Other federal statistics show that rates of obesity climb as poverty increases." Experts say that because urban areas usually have more crime, children stay inside watching TV instead of getting exercise. In addition, urban residents do not have access to big supermarkets and do not buy fresh produce because of the high costs. The article provides statistics on racial groups for obesity and details the factors that affect urban obesity..
Tags: obesity; National Department of Agriculture; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; health problems; television; race; ethnicity; income level
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Nursing Homes of Shame
A New York Daily News investigation reveals "the abuse and neglect of nursing home patients" and exposes "conditions that cry out for reform." The analysis finds that "thousands of elderly patients across New York City are warehoused in understaffed nursing homes where they suffer from neglect, malnutrition, dehydration, abuse and - in some cases - premature death..." A three-part series run in December focuses on "aides with criminal backgrounds, growing patient-on patient abuse and a state health department unable to keep up with complaints or properly monitor the industry." An investigation preceding the series reveals that "private nursing home owners throughout the city are amassing personal fortunes ... from government programs for the poor and elderly."
Tags: FOIA; health care; poverty; elderly; sexual abuse; neglect; New York health department
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Reading, Writing and Roaches
The New York Post's computer analysis of health inspection records revealed that a third of New York City public schools maintained filthy, vermin-infested cafeterias, putting some 1.1 million school children at risk. "... (It) also exposed toothless health regulations: Although the city Department of Health routinely inspects school kitchens and cafeterias, an unwritten policy ensures the Board of Education is never cited for violations."
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1992 IRE TV Award Winners and Finalists Tape
The 1992 IRE TV Award Winners and Finalists Tape is a compilation of 5 investigative stories. 1.) "Food Lion," Prime Time Live, ABC News researches the Food Lion grocery store chain and finds that employees of the store are put under pressure to meet profit quotas, which caused them to put out spoiled food with new expiration dates. Including Food Lion fighting back and ABC apologizing for confusion. See # 9392. 2.) "To Prove Them Innocent," ABC News 20/20 (New York) reports on three men who were convicted of rape in a small town in Pennsylvania, where the local people fought for three years to gain their release and prove their innocence. An investigation finds that on the night in question the men were 50 miles from where the rape occurred, and could not have committed the crime. See # 9398. 3.) "Abuse For Sale," WCCO, Minneapolis documents the explosion of the home-made pornography industry, made possible by the increase in popularity of home video cameras and VCRs. An investigation finds that home-made child pornography is sold through national distributors and at adult video stores across the country. See # 9068. 4.) "Cops and Robbers," WMAQ, Chicago finds that the Chicago Police Department violates its own rules by hiring people with criminal records. Of those officers with criminal records, the ones with battery convictions are also the officers most criticized for police brutality. See # 9221. 5.) "Carol Mosely Braun," WMAQ, Chicago breaks the case of Carol Mosely Braun and the mishandling of a large sum of money given to her mother. Braun allegedly attempted to hide the money so that her mother's Medicaid care would not be cut. See # 9222.
Tags: TAPE; meat processing; crime; cop; police; Medicare; health care.