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 "impairment" ...
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When Caregivers Harm
The investigation exposes failure of state nursing overseers to take corrective action against licensed caregivers accused of malpractice. Lack of competent oversight led impaired nurses to cause harm to patients through abuse, negligence and stealing patient medication for recreational use among other wrongdoings.
Tags: nurses; California; Nursing Board; harm; caregivers; Tracy Weber; malpractice; drugs; abuse; negligence; discipline;
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Blackout
Halsne found that Washington drivers with severe medical impairments, such as diabetes, were again and again given immunity following serious auto accidents. Washington law does not restrict licenses of drivers who have a long history of blackouts. KIRO-TV profiled a diabetic who sent a total of 9 innocent victims to the hospital in 3 car wrecks. KIRO found eight-thousand medically impaired drivers are allowed to keep their licenses year after year.
Tags: driving license; auto accident; medical impairment; diabetic drivers; blackout accidents; license restriction
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System Failure
These stories reveal how an alcoholic cardiologist was able to continue practicing for several years. Although he was charged with several alcohol-related traffic offenses and would occasionally show up at the hospital under the influence of alcohol, the system still allowed him to practice. These articles examine the flaws in the system, reveal serious lapses by state officials and document of the doctor's dangerous and illegal activities.
Tags: alcohol; impairment; medical board; surgery; hospital; cardiac procedures; Hilton Head; ambulance service
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Hospitals caught in the middle
USA Today's review of 10 studies found that injured drunken drivers taken to hospitals are prosecuted less than half the time.
Tags: drunk driving; drunk drivers; blood alcohol reporting; impaired motorists; hospitals; trauma centers; confidentiality; NHTSA; blood alcohol levels
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First. tell no one
This series are an investigation into how the state's medical licensing and discipline agency works in tandem with the private Medical Society of New Jersey to keep impaired and incompetent doctors in practice, and much of their history secret.
Tags: corruption; Consumer Affairs; drug abuse; alcohol abuse; discipline; Board of Medical Examiners; doctors; medical malpractice; CAR
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Very troubled waters
A U.S. News examination of EPA data and state reports on thousands of rivers from 1984 to 1998 finds that the percentage of rivers designated as "impaired" has grown from 26 percent in 1986 to 36 percent in the most recent reports. The article looks at several pollutants affecting the water quality of rivers including: farm runoff, city sewage system, industry, mining, construction and urban and suburban runoff.
Tags: Clean Water Act; rivers; pollution; water quality; algae; farm runoff; EPA; Fayetteville; Arkansas.
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An officer, a child, an unexamined death
Philadelphia Inquirer looks at the lack of proper police investigation on a case in which an off-duty police officer driving a sport-utility vehicle struck and killed a four-year-old boy on October 11, 1999. The story finds that Crystal Dixon, the driver guilty of the accident, might have been intoxicated at the time she struck the child. The reporter interviews witnesses who state having smelled alcohol on Dixon after the accident occurred, and quotes a doctor saying that she was on medication that could impair a driver's reactions. Investigators neither questioned Dixon, nor gave her a breath test or a blood test, as they normally would have done, if a civilian had struck and killed a child, reports the Inquirer.
Tags: alcohol; driving; drunk driving; children; road accidents; pain medication; muscle relaxant; Fernhill Road; Germantown
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What Monsanto Knew
The Nation investigates Monsanto's efforts to conceal the ongoing contamination in Anniston, Alabama, during the 60s and the 70s. The story reveals that the ecological system in the region has been damaged by contamination from polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). "The neighborhood around the plant [of Monsanto] is populated with by people with cancer, young women with damaged ovaries, children who are learning-impaired and people whose ailments have been diagnosed as acute toxic syndrome," reports the Nation. The article cites Monsanto's internal memos showing that the company's management has been aware of the problem for decades.
Tags: environment; public health; cancer; the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; toxic substances; landfills; Alabama Department of Environmental Management; Environmental Protection Agency; litigation
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High Rollers: At Riverboat Casinos, The Free Drinks Come With a Tragic Toll; Drunken Patrons Hit the Road and Cause Fatal Crashes; The Lawsuits Pile Up; No Help from Mr. O'Lucky
A Wall Street Journal investigation of riverboat casinos in rural areas reveals that most have a free drink policy that owners know contributes to drunk driving accidents. The Wall Street Journal was "able to prove that riverboat casinos, in pursuit of higher profits, plied patrons with free alcoholic drinks, often got them drunk, then allowed them to drive away. We showed that, because of the rural location of most riverboats, this policy often lead to fatal accidents; that the casinos knew of these accidents; and that they knew free alcohol helped impair the judgement of gamblers, thus tipping the odds in their favor."
Tags: riverboat casinos; drunk driving; alcohol; cars; automobiles; gambling; poker; slot machines; ethics; free; money; profits
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Feeding the World, poisoning the planet
In just the past two decades, industrialization, population growth and intense use of chemical fertilizers have doubled the amount of nitrogen in circulation among living things...And this sudden explosion of nitrogen has meant mounting worldwide environmental problems that promise to soon get worse and, some scientists predict, to reach the point of calamity." Some examples: More frequent algae blooms (red tides) kill fish and other sea life in coastal waters, invasive plants take over prairies in Minnesota, acid rain in the Blue Ride Mountains, visibility impaired in waters near the Great Barrier Reef, forest mushrooms disappear in Holland.
Tags: nitrogen; environment; water; red tide; algae; seafood; sewage; fishing; "dead zones"; praires; fertilizer; ammonia; farming; sea grass; Baltic; blue crabs; sea grass; agriculture; scallops; monk seals; sea lions; shrimp; hogs; Lake Pontchartrain