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 "medical fraud" ...
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Consumer Medical Investigations
CBS explored bogus health plans, one of the biggest consumer fraud issues to emerge from the economic recession.
Tags: medical care; haggling; consumer fraud; health care
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"Disposable Soldiers"
Reporter Joshua Kors exposes the story of Sergeant Chuck Luther who was severely injured by "mortar fire while serving in Iraq." His injury took the form of intense headaches that caused his vision to black out. He was asked to sign documents that claimed he had a "pre-existing condition," and when he refused, he was locked in a closet for more than "a month, with armed guards enforcing sleep deprivation." Finally, Luther signed the documents, which stripped him of disability benefits and long-term medical care.
Tags: Iraq; disability; fraud; Camp Taji; U.S. Army; Fort Hood; medical care; pre-existing condition
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Deception of the Desperate
The WSMV investigation "exposed how a Nashville-based company was deceiving people all across the country who were desperate for insurance. Many of these customers had serious illnesses, like AIDS and cancer, and could not get full coverage insurance. They found the company was telling consumers they were getting full coverage insurance, when in fact they were buying basic discount cards that barely paid any of their expenses. "
Tags: insurance; fraud; consumer safety; medical insurance; health insurance
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First, Do No Harm
This investigation focused on lax supervision of doctors-in-training, patient harm and alleged billing fraud at Dallas' premier medical school complex and its primary teaching hospital, which are financed largely by taxpayers. It also examined more broadly questions about medical training, patient care and healthcare fraud at teaching hospitals around the United States.
Tags: doctor training; patient harm; patient care; Medicare fraud; health care; healthcare; Dallas; medical school; hospital; billing fraud; surgery
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60 Billion Dollar Fraud
“Medicare Fraud, a crime that steals an estimated $60 billion a year from the American taxpayer”. Medicare stated they were made efforts to crack down on the fraud, but this investigation proved otherwise. This investigation revealed how easy Medicare fraud is and that zero experience can still result in thousands of dollars from Medicare.
Tags: health care; medical; medicine; officials; federal government; Congress; system; insurance; plan; doctors; hospitals; benefits
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"Prison Medical Series"
In this investigation, Charles Piller reveals that cost to improve medical care in California's prisons was grossly "overstated." In 2006, a court-ordered receiver took control of the prisons' health care system and "fundamentally" miscalculated the $8 million estimate. Further investigation shows "fraud and waste" within the receiver's "staffing programs."
Tags: Matthew Cate; Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; J. Clark Kelso; John Hagar; California state prisons
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Medicare Fraud: The New Cocaine Cowboys
Medicare Fraud has become one of the largest organized crimes in America. The investigation revealed that it costs “US taxpayers $60 billion in fraudulent Medicare benefits filed every year”. As a result of the first story, many groups moved in to initiate new laws, which would regulate Medicare and who gets the money.
Tags: 60 Minutes; Department of Health and Human Services; congressional; health care; medical; medicine; schemes; insurance; clinics; system
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Dead Wrong: What's Really Killing America
Inaccurate data on what kills people in this country is rampant. There are some cases where cause of death is fraudulently invented, but in most cases autopsies are simple conducted incorrectly to the tune of at least a third of death diagnoses. In many cases, cause of death is never determined and these patterns are exacerbated along disadvantaged socioeconomic lines. Such inaccurate data on deaths is feared to skew research on preventative measures.
Tags: death; autopsies; diagnoses; inaccurate; reporting; inexperience; research; medicine; heart disease; fraud; medical examiners; investigation; conduct; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
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The Social Security backlog
A four-part, multi-article series examined the backlog of social security cases, particularly in the Portland, Ore. area. When presented with the findings, Social Security top official Commissioner Michael J. Astrue acknowledged the backlog of disability claims has gone "seriously in the wrong direction." The reporters found that most people who fight for Social Security benefits after being initially denied with their cases, but the average wait for a disability hearing was 512 days -- 669 days in the Portland office. The series highlighted that the system was particularly hard on veterans as well. Also, using internal Social Security figures, the reporters determined that the agency would pay about $9 billion in benefits to people who no longer deserved them. They later found that the real cost for the failure to review disability cases was between $10 and $11 billion.
Tags: social security; veterans' care; Department of Veteran's Affairs; disability hearings; medical benefits; Freedom of Information Act
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Juiced in the Valley
"Juiced in the Valley is a series of reports exposing the illegal prescribing of anabolic steroids by a group of doctors at Revolution Medical Centers in Phoenix, Arizona."
Tags: steroid use; prescription fraud; clinics; overdose; suicide; performance-enhancing drugs