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 "painkillers" ...
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The New Addition
Abuse of prescription narcotics in Las Vegas has risen and lead to the quadrupling of fatal overdoses since the decade before. "The trend reflects the extraordinarily high use of narcotic painkillers by Nevadans," that ranks them "fourth nationally in per person consumption of methadone, morphine and oxycodone."
Tags: drugs; pain killers; overdose; Drug Enforcement Administration; Nevada;
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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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Prescription for Pain
"Nobody knew how bad Eastern Kentucky's prescription drug problem was." After an eight-month investigation, the Lexington Herald-Leader series "Prescription for Pain," revealed that the region was "the painkiller capital of the United States. And nobody--not the doctors, the cops, the court system or society--was doing anything to stop the abuse."
Tags: drug trade; eastern Kentucky; prescription drugs; drug addiction; painkillers; narcotics; drug courts; DUI
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Prescription Fraud: Abusing the System
Every year, hundreds of millions of prescription pills flow into the nation's illicit drug market, creating a giant cornucopia of painkillers, stimulants and tranquilizers. Authorities from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating more than a dozen doctors suspected of unlawfully supplying prescription drugs. Weikel explains how millions of pills are being illegally resold on the streets and how some see a double standard in leniency toward doctors and the rich and powerful who overuse drugs.
Tags: prescription drugs; painkillers; overdose; stimulants; tranquilizers
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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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"The most dangerous drug to hit small-town America since crack cocaine"?
A Spin investigation reveals that OxyContin - supposed to be the strongest and safest painkiller - turned out to cause rush that could rival pure heroin's. The drug caused a new type of frenetic street violence - beatings, fights, and robberies - in the rural areas of the country, the magazine reports. The article depicts the dare problems of the new addicts - including old ladies, teenage drugstore cowboys and young adults. The manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, and the federal regulators failed to anticipate the potential abuse of the 'miracle drug,' the investigation finds.
Tags: prescription drugs; health; heroine; cocaine; Drug Enforcement Administration; business
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Arthritis: What it is, why you get it and how to stop the pain
A Newsweek analysis looks at arthritis as one of the most wide-spread and dangerous diseases of our time, since "this year American surgeons will perform as many as 266,000 total knee replacements and 160,000 artificial hip implants." The story describes the main types of arthritis, and lists some advantages and disadvantages of the medicines used to treat them. The article reveals that "injuries that appear to heal perfectly well sometimes have devastating effects decades later." The main conclusion is that "with new warnings out about the best available pain relief, treating it is more complicated than ever."
Tags: pain; painkillers; health; pharmaceuticals; nontraditional medicine; surgery; doctors; patients; hospitals; osteoarthritis; disabled; seniors; Cox-2-inhibitors
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The Cure: With Big Drugs Dying, Merck Didn't Merge - It Found New Ones
The Wall Street Journal analyses the survival of Merck & Co. at the time when it is gradually losing its exclusive rights to several of its best-selling drugs. The story finds that the key for Merck's success is "searching for blockbuster drugs," instead of joining "the merger rush sweeping the pharmaceuticals industry." The reporter looks at the Merck's innovative research for painkilling drugs, and describes the effectiveness and the flaws of some of the company's new pills.
Tags: drugs; business; Food and Drug Administration (FDA); health; side effects; ulcer; headache; Monsanto; mergers and acquisitions
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Bad Research Clouds Death Reports
"An analysis by the Orlando Sentinel "found glaring mistakes in research by the Office of Drug Control in its campaign to spotlight the dangers of so-called 'rave' drugs. Its official tally of rave-drug deaths reached 254. But blaming that many deaths on the club scene was grossly misleading. The state's research included dozens of errors." Among those lumped in with state's tally: terminal cancer patients; senior citizens who took painkillers under doctor's supervision; a four-year-old who died from medicine intended to treat a headache. In an effort to combat designer-drugs, "the drug office asked the state Medical Examiners Commission to send reports on every death from 1997 through 1999 that tested positive for any of 20 listed drugs." But a number of drugs found in people were not typical 'rave drugs'.
Tags: drugs; death; Office of Drug Control; rave drugs; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Medical Examiners Commission; medical examiners; Drug Information Center; designer drugs; death report; Rohypnol; MDMA; GHB; club drugs; Florida Office of Drug Control