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 problems" ...
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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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StarTribune: Discipline Deferred
A six-month investigation by the Star Tribune found that the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, once considered a national leader in the regulation of licensed physicians, often doesn’t punish doctors whose mistakes harm patients or who demonstrate a pattern of substandard care. After analyzing information compiled by a national databank and reviewing thousands of pages of court and medical board records, the reporters found that the board, which regulates 20,000 physicians in the state, has been reluctant to punish some doctors who have harmed patients, including more than 100 doctors who were disciplined by other states and even doctors who lost privileges to practice at Minnesota hospitals. The investigation also showed that the board lags behind boards in other states in disclosing information to the public, including data on malpractice judgments or settlements. It also doesn’t disclose whether doctors have been disciplined by regulators in other states or lost their privileges to work in hospitals and other facilities for surgical mistakes and other problems.
Tags: Board of Medical Practice; physicians; doctors; punishment; patients
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Drugging Delinquents
The investigation found that Florida was restraining jailed children with heavy doses of potent anti-psychotic drugs, medications that can turn troublemakers into "zombies" and cause serious health problems in kids.
Tags: juvenile; prisons; jailed children; Department of Juvenile Justice
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Brain Wars: How the Military is Failing Its Wounded
The series uncovers a pattern of broken promises and ignored problems within the medical system for America's soldiers and veterans. Despite the hundreds of thousands of soldiers suffering from serious brain injuries, the military has continued to fail to diagnose and treat their injuries. In some cases, brain injuries were dismissed as headaches.
Tags: brain injury; veterans; military; military hospital; concussions
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Doctor Lost Priviliges -- But Kept Clean Record
What started as an investigation of one doctor's questionable practices, led to a larger expose on St. Louis hospital violations and the state's lack of punishment for the doctors that are reported. The reporters found that most information about Missouri's problem doctors and unsafe hospital condition is swept under the rug.
Tags: hospital; FDA; doctors; hospital inspection; medical license
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"The Lonely Soldier"
In her book, author Helen Benedict reveals what it is like to be a female in the military and serving overseas. She shares stories of sexual abuse and "discrimination against women and people of color." Female soldiers also suffer from health problems caused by the "lack of adequate medical care for women." Benedict also looks at the lives of women after they return home who suffer from isolation and "multiples traumas of combat and sexual assault."
Tags: Iraq war; female soldiers; National Guard; Afghanistan; Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Military Sexual Trauma; Air Force; Marines
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Untested in Battle
“New military medical technologies were often rushed into use in Iraq with little oversight and little evidence of their effectiveness”. Many of these were discarded by doctors after learning of their deadly side effects. Additionally, many of these same technologies were banned by the military after the discovery of the problems involved with these technologies.
Tags: US Army; medical care; war zone; battle; injury; combat; troops; medics; clinical; innovations
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Soldiers At Risk: Iraq Water Investigation
With temperatures rising up to “130 degrees or more” a day, why would the military be rationing water to only 2 liters a day per person? The answer is a water shortage. As a result, some soldiers are reporting from “serious physical problems with their kidneys, nerve degeneration, and even serious brain damage”. Further, some of these conditions went on for up to a year.
Tags: Iraq; Wars; medical professionals; officers; Army; Veterans Administration; defenders; troops
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Medical Misadventure: Deaht at the State Hospital
The investigation began with the death of a mental health patient, Josh Garcia. He had checked himself into the hospital and as a result an attorney was appointed to represent him and oversee his treatment. This attorney had strayed away from him and told the court, after his death, that he had agreed to take the medicine. This is false and this medication led to his death. Further, this attorney receives taxpayers’ money for every case through the hospital. As a result, the state is looking into the rights of mental health patients and whether this is a major problem.
Tags: Pueblo State Hospital; involuntary medication; Office of Attorney Regulation; state legislature; legal representation; secrecy
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Up In Smoke
The series was dealing with the “proliferation of medical marijuana clinics in Los Angeles”. The series revealed “a loophole inadvertently included in legislation passed by the Los Angeles City Council which allowed hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries to open with no oversight”. Further, the council was unwilling or unable to control the problem they had knowledge about.
Tags: FOIA; City government; Oaksterdam University; cash crop; entrepreneurs; medical purposes; cancer; AIDS; glaucoma