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 "U.S. Department of Human Services" ...
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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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Perilous Practices: a three-part series on the medical malpractice issue in Ohio
Political ads have been saying that so many doctors are fleeing Ohio over concerns about rising medical malpractice insurance rates that it has caused a health care crisis, in which the public is losing access to vital services. However, a closer look reveals that the doctor supply has not been dramatically diminished by doctors retiring early or moving away from the state. In fact, the number of doctors holding active Ohio medical licenses went up slightly even as insurance rates were exploding.
Tags: medical malpractice; Ohio State Medical Board; Ohio State Medical Association; Medical Liability Monitor; Ohio Supreme Court; U.S. Department of Human Services; Ohio Department of Insurance; American Medical Association; MD Anderson Cancer Center; UC Medical Center; malpractice fees; malpractice insurance; health benefits
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Opportunity of Exploitation?
These stories deal with how a company, Maxi Staff Inc., used promises of good pay, great housing and the chance to escape poverty and high unemployment to recruit laborers for Puerto Rico to work in U.S. meat processing plants. The stories revealed how, once they were in the United States, the laborers' dreams turned to dust and they found themselves in an unfavorable economic situation. The company charged recruits for the recruits' flights to the U.S. They were put in substandard and unsanitary housing. Workers made less money than they had originally been told, often making less than $100 for a 40-hour week. Recruits who fell ill or got injured on the job were fired and evicted from their housing with 48 hours notice.
Tags: Maxi Staff Inc.; poverty; unemployment; Puerto Rican Laborers; U.S. meat processing plants; U.S. Department of Labor; Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration; Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources; Ronell Industries; Empire Kosher; Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry; Catholic Social Services; Council of Spanish Speaking Organizations; Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church; U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division; OSHA; Puerto Rican recruits; Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition
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Scarce Goods: Justice, Fairness and Organ Transplantation
Koch's book examines the origins of scarcity of blood and graft organs. The main finding is that the problem has existed at least since a famous legal case of U.S. v. Holmes, 1842, which dealt wit the question of lifeboat ethics - "who should die so that others might survive?" Koch looks at the lifeboat ethics' modern application to the distribution of transplantable organs. Using mapping software, the author reveals that "the scarcity of organs is exacerbated, where not created, by racial and regional inequalities inherent in the American health care and transplant system."
Tags: BOOK; Department of Health and Human Services; United Network for Organ Sharing; race; ethnicity; minorities; National Organ Transplant Act; justice; poverty; health insurance; GIS
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Doctors in Debt
Dallas Business Journal examines the federal government's "troubled efforts to collect on $168.8 million in student loans remaining from the defunct Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL) program. About 1,700 chiropractors, dentists and other former medical students have found their starting salaries too low to repay their student debts, the story reveals. The Journal's analysis of the government data about the debtors shows "discrepancies in payment records, departures from agency rules and confusion among those running the system." The defaulted doctors' debts could cost some of them their licenses, Patrick reports.
Tags: doctors; licensing boards; bankruptcy; college financial aid; U.S. Department of Health and Human Service; Health Education Assistance Loans (HEAL); Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners; Texas State Board of Dental Examiners
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Special report: Forced labor in America
This U.S.A Today investigative series reports on domestic worker abuse. The investigation compiles information on more than 140 cases of hidden exploitation. The main finding is that the private home is becoming the modern-day version of a sweatshop. The first part of the series reveals that "many immigrants hired to work as nannies and maids in the United States are instead being forced into virtual bondage, where some are beaten, barred from leaving and denied basic medical care." The victims' status is often illegal, and they are afraid to disclose the abuse for fear of being deported. Statistics quoted in the stories show that immigrant live-ins are generally paid much below minimum wages. The second part of the series looks at the uncertain justice that victims receive, and depicts their difficulties to achieve emotional recovery and financial independence.
Tags: immigrants; immigration; domestic work; foreign-born residents; Justice Department; Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); Human Rights Watch; lawyers; sexual assault; visas; police; courts; international organizations; CAR
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Worries About Safety of Its Anthrax Vaccine Put the Army in a Bind
The Wall Street Journal reports on side effects from anthrax vaccine, which have put the U.S. Army in a difficult position. The story reveals that hundreds of soldiers have claimed harm or disability from the anti-anthrax shots, and 102 people have been court-martialed for refusing to take the vaccine. The article follows the developments in the army anthrax vaccination program in recent years, and exposes failures in the performance of BioPort, the military's anthrax vaccine supplier.
Tags: vaccines; terrorism; biological weapons; FBI; FDA; BioPort; Department of Health and Human Services; defense; Steven-Johnson syndrome
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The Body Parts of Business
Tribune reporters found tissue donations agencies exploiting people after the death of a loved one and their "increasing reliance on the tissue trade to finance luxurious offices, cars, benefits, and salary packages that stretch well into the six figures." The Tribune also found the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed only minimal rules to safeguard the use of tissue and has failed to adopt more stringent regulations.." FDA regulators admitted to the Tribune they were "ill-equipped" and often unable to oversee the increasing international tissue industry. This series prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and a report was issued demanding more information regarding what the tissue is being used for be available so donor families have all the facts. In addition, the American Association of Tissue Banks examined the practice of its members and the info that donor families received. "The association also adopted guidelines for informing donor families whether tissue will be forwarded to for-profit medical or tissue processing companies."
Tags: Food and Drug Administration; organ donation; tissue banking industry
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No title (id: 13864)
USA Today series exposes home health-care, the nation's fastest growing industry, as a haven for criminals who abuse and exploit elderly and disabled patients, as well as the taxpayer-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs that pay most of their bills. (Nov. 11-12, 1996)
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No title (id: 13830)
The two-part series looks at problems with lead detection and prevention on both the local and federal levels. Exposure to lead, which comes primarily through peeling lead-based paint, can cause a decline in I.Q., learning disabilities, anemia, kidney damage, mental retardation, seizures and even death, especially in children. While the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services called lead poisoning the top environmental health hazard to children in 1991, the problem still persists in low-income communities. (Feb. - May, 1996)
Tags: Pardo Washington CAR Lead poisoning Contest entry Environment Hazardous wastes 19 pgs.