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 "drug makers" ...
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Chemical Fallout
"The reporters exposed inept government programs that favor chemical makers over the needs of the public. They detailed conflicts of interest among regulators and uncovered new hidden threats for consumers. The newspaper tested common household plastics billed as "microwave safe" and found toxic levels of chemicals leaching from every item tested."
Tags: chemicals; toxins; public safety; government protection; bisphenol A; Environmental Protection Agency; Food and Drug Administration;
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Killer Prescription Drugs Part 1 and 2
Anderson Cooper 360 examined the FDA loopholes for prescription drugs. Since 1984, drug makers have been allowed to sell drug without approval as long as they "determine that the product was similar to others already approved and on the market." In some cases these similar, but unapproved, drugs have lead patients' deaths.
Tags: medicine; pharmacy; FDA; prescription; Phenobarbital; E-Ferol; chloral hydrate
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The Killer Cure
Thousands of patients have died as a result of the Food and Drug Administration, along with drug companies, have failed to warn Americans about the dangers of methadone. People are overdosing on methadone, and federal officials hired a doctor on the payroll of a methdaone maker to report on the number of deaths each year.
Tags: FDA; OD; poison; oxycontin; prescription drug; heroin; opium
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Divided Loyalties
A look at how nonprofit health information and advocacy groups are taking millions of dollars from druge and medical device makers. Organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and the National Osteporosis Foudndation are involved in this debate of drug safety.
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A Dose of Denial
This article focuses on the dangers of phenylpropanolamine, or PPA, and the lengths that drug makers took to keep it on the shelves even though they knew risks associated with the ingredient. PPA is an ingredient in many popular over-the-counter cold medicines, such as Triaminic cough syrup, Alka-Seltzer Plus, Dimetapp, and diet aides such as Dexatrim and Acutrim. Although studies showed a link to hypertension and stroke, drug makers kept putting the drugs in consumers' hands.
Tags: Bayer; Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Yale Hemorrhagic Stroke Project
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Lawmakers revive drug court debate
This story is about two Democratic lawmakers in eastern Connecticut who see the need to revive the state's former drug court system. It illustrates how the legislature and local law makers are working towards curbing the growing drug problem.
Tags: Drugs; Connecticut legislature; drug court system; Walter Pawelkiewicz; Donald Williams
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Medicare Monitor. How a whistle-blower spurred pricing case involving drug makers. High U.S. reimbursement caught eye of newcomer to home-care business. Toilet seat as a talking point.
According to the article, "Today, federal and state investigators are threatening civil litigation against pharmaceutical makers that authorities believe have induced Medicare and Medicaid to overpay for prescription drugs by $1 billion or more a year." This article talks about that controversy.
Tags: prescription drugs; pharmaceutical makers; Medicare; Medicaid; money; medicine; prescriptions; pills
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Off the Label: Staffers of Drug Maker Say It Pushed Product For Unapproved Use
The Journal reports on how doctors, paid by pharmaceutical companies, promote medicines before they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration or for off-label uses. The story focuses on the marketing practices of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, known as RPR, producer of a new kind of drug for blood clots, called Lovenox.
Tags: medicine; health care; doctors; lawsuits; justice; Rhone-Poulenc Rorer; prescription drugs
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Medicine's Middlemen
An investigation by the New York Times revealed that "just two companies could determine which life-saving drugs and other medical products most of the nation's hospitals bought and at what price. As national gatekeepers for billions of dollars in hospitals supply contracts, these two companies used their unregulated power to enrich themselves through pervasive conflicts of interest and self dealing... Until the Times examined them, these two for-profit companies, Premier and Novation, operated as they wished. They claimed they saved hospitals money by buying in bulk -- but never had to prove it. As private companies with no government oversight, they refused to disclose how they did business, including how much money the makers of the drugs and medical devices were paying them to get supply contracts. In this environment, Premier executives collected millions in personal stock options from the very manufacturers whose company products they were supposed to evaluate objectively. The buying companies steered thousands of hospitals to manufacturers in which the buying companies themselves had a financial interest."
Tags: Premier; Novation; drugs; medical; medicine; conflict of interest; private business; stock options
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Drug Dealer
The American Prospect looks at a conflict-of-interest case involving Representative Bill Thomas, "the California Republican who currently chairs the House Ways and Means Committee" and the giant pharmaceutical company Ely Lilly. The story examines the circumstances at which Thomas wrote his bill on Medicare and a proposed prescription-drug benefit, which favor the big pharmaceutical companies. The major findings are that Ely Lilly was Thomas' number-one contributor in the last elections, and that the politician has been involved in a romantic relationship with Deborah Steelman, the new vice president for corporate affairs for Ely Lilly and former best-connected health care lobbyist. "How the House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Bush handle the issue could easily sway the outcome of the 2002 elections," the analysis finds.
Tags: pharmaceuticals; drug makers; fund-raising; contributions; PACs; medicines; health insurers; Republican; Democrats; politics