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 "The case of the $30" ...
-
C-HIT: Pharma Perks
The Affordable Care Act requires pharmaceutical companies to publicly report all payments to physicians by September 2013. Some drug companies have already compiled, but few consumers know that the information is available or how to access it. What this story did is disclose for the first time for CT consumers: 1) how many doctors in Connecticut are high-prescribers of certain psychotropic and pain medications, (108) 2) the cost of written prescriptions (hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases) 3) how many of these doctors received payments from drug companies (at least 43) 4) and the amounts that the doctors received from the drug companies ($30,000 - $99,000) It also reported that only 3 doctors on the high-prescribing drug list have been disciplined by the state Medical Examining Board.
Tags: Affordable Care Act; pharmacy; physicians; prescriptions; drugs; Medical Examining Board
-
Unreasonable Doubt
The Globe's team found that when accused drunk drivers waive their right to a jury trial and take their cases before a single judge, they are acquitted four out of five times- an astonishing statewide acquittal rate of 82 percent that is virtually unmatched in the United States. The Globe found that the acquittal rate by judges is 30 percentage points higher than the acquittal rate by juries.
Tags: Drunk driving; judge; jury; acquittal; conviction
-
Dead by Mistake
This series documents the massive number of deaths and injuries caused from preventable medical errors. These errors cause "more deaths than traffic accidents', more specifically they cause nearly "200,000 deaths per year" Behind the numbers are the people who trusted the medical system, including the 30 individual cases spotlighted in this series. Furthermore, once the problems were revealed the medical community and the government failed to take the effective steps necessary to solve the problems.
Tags: Medical; medicine; health care; hospitals; errors; patients; risk; victims; death; mistakes; safety; system
-
Failed by the System
In at least 30 cases since July 1, 1999, children in Oklahoma have died from abuse or neglect even though the state Department of Human Services had previous reports they were being abused. In many cases, there were numerous prior reports of abuse but the state failed to remove the children and they ended up dying. During that time, the state paid at least $1 million to settle lawsuits involving child welfare workers.
Tags: child abuse; child neglect; Department of Human Services; child welfare
-
911 Disconnect
This WTVJ - TV investigation found that two 911 call centers in South Florida were not answering calls in 10 seconds, the state standard in 90 percent of the cases. In fact, these calls sometime took about 30 seconds to a minute to be answered. This investigation revealed that the Sheriff's Department in these areas had never looked the time they took to answer these calls.
Tags: 911 calls; time to respond to 911 calls; emergency calls; South Florida; Broward; Miami-Dade; Sheriff's Department; emergency response time
-
Judging the Jury
For the first time ever, reporters at WHDH-TV in Boston analyzed the racial makeup of federal juries in Massachusetts. What they found was that, in some cases, jury pools had no people of color whatsoever, which led to all white juries. According to their investigation, minorities remained underrepresented in the justice system as much as 50 percent of the time. The reason? Jury pools are chosen according to who responds to the town census. Because it is an unfunded mandate, many low income neighborhoods do a bad job of responding to the census, while the affluent neighborhoods fair much better. These are the neighborhoods with the highest returns and they are the ones repeatedly being called for jury duty.
Tags: jury pools; voter registration; underrepresented minorities; racial makeup; town census; U.S. Census; FOIA
-
"Nuclear Security Problems: Los Alamos Lab Security"
CBS News reporters uncover security lapses in Los Alamos National Laboratory, a U.S. weapons laboratory. In some cases the labs failed to check visas and passports of foreign workers, even after the 9-11 attacks. Two former employees were fired after trying to expose acts of fraud and mismanagement within the labs. The reports also showed that a large number of equipment and supplies were "missing" and/or "stolen," many of which cost thousands or millions of tax dollars. Reporters also exposed a misappropriation of even more tax dollars as some employees were discovered to have spent millions on "questionable purchases" for VCRs, trips to the spa, and diamond rings. One employee who was trusted with a million dollar a month credit line charged a $30,000 custom Mustang to the government credit card, and received no penalty for her actions.
Tags: nuclear security problems; mismanagement; fraud; waste
-
First in Flight, but last in mercy
The Baltimore Sun reports on the trial of Melissa Marvin, a 30-year who killed four while driving drunk in Kitty Hawk, N.C. Marvin was charged with murder, in addition to driving while intoxicated. Marvin was convicted of four counts of second-degree murder and one count of "assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury" and sentenced to 60 years in prison without parole. Sjoerdsma, a attorney/mediator and freelance journalist writes that "by grafting murder law onto DWI cases, North Carolina may be running roughshod over traditional notions of justice."
Tags: DWI; murder; North Carolina; alcohol; Melissa Marvin; justice; legal system; courts; crime
-
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
-
Poisoned Children
A Star-Ledger investigation discovers that an estimated 30,000 children are being lead-poisoned in New Jersey every year. The series finds that "New Jersey has among the most extensive lead hazards in the country," and Newark is the "state's lead-poisoning hotspot." The reporter looks at the history of the lead poisoning, examines the problems of the state lead-prevention programs and sheds light on notorious cases. Among them is the case of a "serial poisoner," an apartment building that has been poisoning children generation after generation.
Tags: lead; safety; health; FOI requests; construction; property owners