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 "oxycontin" ...
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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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Cyber Drug-Dealers
NBC 10 investigators found that children may be able to get their hands on powerful drugs without even leaving home and with no prescription, and an interviewee told them that one does not even need money to get narcotics off the internet.
Tags: TAPE; narcotics; drug; pill; prescription; children; kids; narcotics; addict; addiction; pharmacy; doctor; cyber; cyber dealer; pain killer; antidepressant; steroid; hydrocodin; oxycontin; codeine; Valium; Xanax; tablet; bodybuilder.
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Prescription for Pain
The stories demonstrated that Eastern Kentucky led the nation in the distribution of prescription narcotics-much of it illegal. Reporters found a series of unlikely accomplices to the illegal trafficing including the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Local cops were corrupt or compromised and a $30 million federal enforcement effort was rendered ineffective by a lack of cooperation among the police agencies involved. The reports found an elected judge who admitted that he'd had private business dealings with rug dealers and was unilaterally lowering drug offenders' sentences set by plea bargains. The reporters also found that effecive drug treatment was hard to find in rural areas of Kentucky. The newspaper also produced an examination of how OxyContin was marketed through "detailing," the practice of sending sales men directly into doctor's offices. The reporting also took readers inside one local drug ring. Finally, the newspaper examined how public Medicaid payments were providing some rural Kentucy drug dealsers with millions of silent partners-U.S. taxpayers- who were helping to ensure their supply.
Tags: prescription narcotis; illegal trafficking; federal Drug Enforcement Administration; OxyContin; painkillers; FBI; methanphetamine; taxpayers; medicaid; substance abuse; rural Kentucky; Social Security Administrationn; drug traffickers; drug abuse; lortab; tylox; xanax; cocaine; marijuana; Lee County Sheriff's Department; Beattyville; Beattyville Police; Operation Grinch; Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program; HIDTA; Kentucky State Police; Office of National Drug Control Policy
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Pain Killers
The York Daily Record reports about 20 people that have died from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs between 2001 and 2002. According to the story "the federal government has identify Pennsylvania as one of several states with a substantial prescription drug problem. However the state does not track the specific drugs responsible in fatal drug overdoses." In 11 of the 20 prescription drug cases, "the York County coroner found OxyContin or oxycodone in the people's systems or among the drugs that they were taking."
Tags: overdose; pain killers; prescription drugs; Oxycontin; oxycodone; illegal drugs; pharmacy; abuse; health care workers; doctors; DEA; FOIA
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Sales of Painkiller grew rapidly, but success brought high cost
Hitting the markets in 1995, Oxycontin has quickly turned into the most abused prescription drug in the country, causing at least 120 deaths. This story traces the timeline of how Oxycontin exploded in popularity, and where something might have been done to prevent the outbreak of this dangerous new drug.
Tags: Oxycontin; prescription drugs
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Oxycontin
A poorly maintained medical assistance program helped contribute to the abuse of oxycontin in Minnesota. The state only monitors drugs paid for through the state's medical assistance program. Abusers are getting the drug through the state, selling it on the street for ten times as much, and then purchasing prescriptions of the drug for themselves. Oxycontin is considered the "#2 drug problem" in Minnesota other than meth.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; oxycontin; hillbilly heroin; drug abuse; medical assistance; hospitals; drugs; prescriptions; legal drugs
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Oxcontin
Responding to an outbreak in the drug's prominence, the Charlotte Observer did this four-day series on Oxycontin, a prescription synthetic morphine. Because it is a prescription drug, reporters were able to get records of pharmacies filling prescriptions and give readers detailed information about exactly how big the problem was, and how close-to-home it was. The stories weave complex statistics and human narratives to tell the story of how one drug drastically altered a region.
Tags: Drugs; Oxycontin; prescription; abuse; rehabilitation
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Rx for death
Powerful legal narcotics such as OxyContin are causing the deaths of hundreds of Floridians. As attitudes toward pain management relax, some doctors are not paying attention to what medications their patients are using. This leads to cases of dangerous mixing of drugs and/or irresponsible prescribing of drugs.
Tags: pharmaceuticals; OxyContin; prescriptions; medicine; legal drugs; addiction; malpractice; painkillers
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OxyContin Investigation
A WWL-TV investigation discovers that OxyContin, a powerful painkiller popular among drug users, could be easily obtained by prescription from certain doctors. Those were writing prescriptions after performing only cursory physicals, and their offices were crowded by drug addicts until late in the night. Many prescriptions have been filled through Medicaid, WWL-TV reports. The investigation sheds light on one specific case - those of Dr. Jacqueline Cleggett - who wrote an OxyContin prescription to a patient whose son died from an injected overdose.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; doctors; Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners; law enforcement; police; drug abuse; narcotics; drug dealers
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OxyContin
CBS News reports on the controversy surrounding miracle/menace drug OxyContin. With the number of prescriptions skyrocketing, the number of addicts and overdoses has been too. Many rural areas have been severely affected, leading to drastic increases in robberies and other OxyContin-related crimes. Opponents blame the pharmaceutical company's heavy marketing campaign; supporters say it's still a miracle drug when it comes to controlling pain.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; OxyContin; addiction; prescription medication; drugs