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 "errors" ...
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Cracking the Codes
Cracking the Codes documented how thousands of medical professionals have steadily billed Medicare for more complex and costly health care over the past decade – adding $11 billion or more to their fees – despite little evidence elderly patients required more treatment. The series also uncovered a broad range of costly billing errors and abuses that have plagued Medicare for years – from confusion over how to pick proper payment codes to apparent overcharges in medical offices and hospital emergency rooms. The findings strongly suggest these problems, known as “upcoding,” are worsening amid lax federal oversight and the government-sponsored switch from paper to electronic medical records.
Tags: Medicare; health care; billing; medical offices; hospitals; government; medical records
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NBC News: Under Fire
An investigation into an alleged defect involving 20 million rifles and shotguns, causing many to fire without the trigger being pulled. Despite dozens of injuries and at least seven deaths—and evidence the manufacturer has been aware of a problem for decades—Remington has publicly insisted its guns are safe and the incidents are a result of user error. Using internal company documents including customer complaints dating back to the 1950s, our investigation found Remington chose not to implement changes designed to make its products safer, and may have withheld vital information from its customers.
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Broken Justice in Phillips County
A five-part series preceded by an initial investigation into dysfunction in the criminal justice system in an Arkansas Delta county known for corruption and poverty. The year-long investigation uncovered errors and archaic practices in the handling of fugitive warrants and speedy trials that allowed felony suspects to remain free for years without fear of answering to the charges against them. As a result, prosecutors had to drop hundreds of cases for failure to take them to trial in a timely manner. Since publication, the Phillips County sheriff has made changes in how his office handles failure-to-appear warrants, and court officials have reduced case backlogs. Nevertheless, problems persist.
Tags: Criminal justice system; corruption; poverty; fugitive warrants
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Unsafe, Unsound: School Construction Safety In Colorado
The Denver Post's series examined several failures that led to closure, for safety concerns, of a new $18.9 million elementary school in rural Northwestern Colorado town of Meeker- and the broader implications for school construction in the state. The DP demonstrated that the design-and-build firm made a series of mistakes and fought back when questioned, that a state official missed a glaring error in reviewing the project, and that the local school board allowed children to attend classes in the building for months, despite being warned about structural deficiencies.
Tags: elementary schools; construction; meeker; colorado; school officials; structural integrity
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Fabricated and Flawed Integrity Tests Threaten Public Safety and an Iconic $6.3 Billion Bridge
The investigation found that a technician who tested the structural integrity of the other new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge fudnation had fabricated results on othe structures and committed numberous testing errors, callling to question the stability of California's costliest and most important public works project ever, among other freeway structures statewide.
Tags: bridges; San-Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge; freeway structures
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Fatal System Error
The book details the inner workings of the criminal internet hackers and their links to government.
Tags: internet; hacking; cyber criminals
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"Breaking Down Bond Court"
In Cook Country, very little attention is given to bond hearings. However, the hearings can have a major impact on the defendant's life and "have ripple effects for taxpayers and communities." In this story, reporters Tony Arnold and Cate Cahan reveal "rushed hearings," the errors that occur and the "drastic consequences" they have for the defendants and their families.
Tags: bond; bail; Cook County; Chicago; judge; electronic monitoring; lawsuit
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Dead Wrong?
The investigation examines the relationship between the income, credentials of staff members, and the recommended standards of one medical examiner and questions whether his major errors helped put people innocent people in prison.
Tags: medical examiner; doctor; prison; staff; income
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Clery Crime Reporting Errors
"Stories documented the university's failure to disclose sex offenses, burglaries and other crimes on the Tarleton campus. None of 10 sex offenses reported by federal law, to DOE. Further, the university disclosed only about half of the burglaries that took place on campus".
Tags: college; education; students; crime; police; law enforcement; records; underreported; university; Department of Education(DOE)
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Taj Mahal on the Trinity
"This story dealt with the out-of-control construction costs of public county community college urban campus." Also, the errors made by the district, the demands for more money, and failure to oversee the project until the costs estimates were up to "half-billion dollars with less than one-third of the project complete." Further, a great deal of citizens turned against the project, due to the large amount of taxpayer dollars being used.
Tags: education; facility; FOIA; Tarrant County; college district; construction; costs; colleges