Resource Center

Stories

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 "defibrillators" ...

  • Heart Devices

    This story explains how corporate and regulatory policies prevented doctors and patients from learning critical information about defects in heart devices such as defibrillators and pacemakers.

    Tags: hearts; Food and Drug Administration; FDA; defibrillators; pacemakers; heart disease; regulation; health; healthcare

    By Barry Meier

    New York Times

    2005

  • 6 Minutes to Live or Die

    This story investigates the loss of life across the United States as a result of failing emergency medical services. Davis uses a variety of examples to illustrate that people who suffer from cardiac arrest can be saved as long as an ambulance can reach them in time. He writes, "hundreds of people die needlessly each year because some cities fail to make basic, often inexpensive changes in the way they deploy ambulances, paramedics, and fire trucks." There is a helpful illustration of a United States map, with rankings of different cities across the nation and how they measure up when it comes to emergency response time.

    Tags: emergency medical srevices; emergency response time; defibrillator; CPR; cardiac arrest

    By Robert Davis

    USA Today (McLean, Va.)

    2003

  • Replacement parts

    The News & World Report investigates "how implantable medical devices gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration," according to the contest questionnaire. As the medical devices manufacturing business has grown over the years, so has the number of patients crippled or killed by the implantation of faulty pacemakers, defibrillators, heart valves, knee joints or spinal-fusion screws. The story finds that FDA allows for devices to be marketed before undergoing clinical tests, and is unable to monitor them once the devices are in use.

    Tags: doctors; hospitals; business; corporate interests; patients; health

    By Kit R. Roane

    U.S. News & World Report

    2002

  • No title (id: 7559)

    WRC-TV (Washington, D.C.) investigates deaths caused by malfunctioning medical devices while focusing on the heartstarting machine called a defibrillator, which is responsible for more wrongful deaths than any other medical device regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, Nov. 5 - 8, 1990.

    Tags: TAPE

    By None

    WRC-TV (Washington, D.C.)

    1990