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 "patient assault" ...
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Broken Shield
Decades ago, California created a special police force to patrol exclusively at its five state developmental centers – taxpayer-funded institutions where patients with severe autism and cerebral palsy have been beaten, tortured and raped by staff members. But California Watch found that this state force, the Office of Protective Services, does an abysmal job bringing perpetrators to justice. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, exposed the depths of the abuse inside these developmental centers while showing how sworn officers and detectives wait too long to start investigations, fail to collect evidence and ignore key witnesses – leading to an alarming inability to solve crimes inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Dozens of women were sexually assaulted inside state centers, but police investigators didn’t order “rape kits” to collect evidence, a standard law enforcement tool. Police waited so long to investigate one sexual assault that the staff janitor accused of rape fled the country, leaving behind a pregnant patient incapable of caring for a child. The police force’s inaction also allowed abusive caregivers to continue molesting patients – even after the department had evidence that could have stopped future assaults. Many of the victims chronicled by California Watch are so disabled they cannot utter a word. Gabrielson gave them a resounding voice. Our Broken Shield series prompted far-reaching change, including a criminal investigation, staff retraining and new laws – all intended to bring greater safeguards and accountability.
Tags: California; police; autism; cerebral palsy; abuse; children
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"First, Do No Harm/Behind The Curtain"
Two women have come forward to say they were sexual assaulted by a male ER nurse while in the care of North Kansas City Hospital. The women were heavily drugged while the assaults occurred. KCTV reporters found that sexual assault on hospital patients is not as rare a problem as most might think. However, when asked about the issue, local advocacy groups, state nursing boards and even the senior V.P. of the Joint Commission were unaware it even existed.
Tags: MOCSA; Joint Commission; Federal Department of Health and Human Services; North Kansas City Hospital; William Price; Center for Health Ethics; Sarah Breier; Missouri State Board of Nursing; Paul Schyve
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Hospital Sexual Assaults
The reporter investigated sexual assaults on patients at hospitals in the Phoenix area, and the reporting led to criminal convictions for three hospital staff members. In March 2008, the station received an e-mail saying staff at a Scottsdale hospital didn't call police after a stroke patient told them she was sexually assaulted in her bed. After the original report aired, other people came forward with similar stories. After a public records request from the police department, the reporter found sex crimes against patients at about a dozen Phoenix-area hospitals. Most cases were never solved. Ptosecutors criminally charged employees at the original Scottsdale hospital with violations of Arizona's vulnerable adults law. Three were convicted and one received jail time. Several hospitals in the Phoenix are have reviewed and improved their patient security as a result of these reports.
Tags: public records; sexual assault; hospitals; Arizona; Phoenix; patient assault; hospital patients
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Trouble at Delaware Psychiatric Center
If the nurse at the Delaware Psychiatric Center (DPC) report the patient abuse or neglect of the lesser-trained attendant staff, their cars would be vandalized and they would suffer other forms of retaliation. One patient had his jaw broken in three places due to an attendant assault, several females reported they’d been raped in DPC, and questions of the criminal backgrounds of doctors were raised.
Tags: sexual assault; abuse; felony assault; patient care; hospital abuse; Susan Watson Robinson
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The Lunatics Have Taken over the Asylum
This investigative story of Alameda County's acute psychiatric hospital, John George, started when a doctor was beaten and strangled to death by a mentally ill patient. It was revealed that assaults by patients were common in the facility and hospital staff complained for years about 'inadequate safeguards' to protect them from potentially violent patients. This investigation also revealed that a lot of facilities like John George put 'severe restrictions' on how to handle violent patients, which can put many hospital staff in danger.
Tags: psychiatric hospital; mentally ill; OSHA; Occupational Safety and Health; patients; work safety
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"Broken Trust"
This investigation involved a doctor accused of sexually assaulting his patient. Though the doctor's disciplinary record was clean, his malpractice history revealed 21 malpractice lawsuits. Expanding the story, a database of state disciplinary actions taken against Maryland physicians showed a number of doctors with numerous disciplinary actions still practicing.
Tags: medical malpractice; sexual assault; physicians; disciplinary reports; CAR; computer-assisted reporting
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Psychout
"When the Feds checked into Western Missouri Mental Health Center, what they saw was crazy," reports Pitch Weekly. The story sheds light on the death of a patient who suffocated with a piece of bread, and was not immediately helped. Some of the major findings are that " "the psychiatric hospital is far from a healing sanctuary, " and that "hospital staffers ... say they try to keep havoc at bay while the administration ignores their concerns." The investigation points to multiple examples of assaults committed by patients, as well as injuries suffered by both patients and staffers. The story reveals that the incidents have not been reporter to the state authorities, and that "psychologists have been instructed to complete documents in a way that they felt was fraudulent."
Tags: hospitals; doctors; patients; psychiatry; assaults; negligence; medicine; health care; Western Missouri Mental Health Center
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A Practice of Betrayal
WLWT-TV finds that "state dental boards across the country are designed to discipline dentists and alert consumers. But the power of these boards varies greatly from state to state. Some don't have emergency suspension powers. Others have a shortage of funds. The result is that many dentists, some of whom are accused of sexually assaulting patients, are continuing to work for years before a hearing is held."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; state licensing boards; dental boards; crime
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No title (id: 5459)
CBS News West 57th airs report on national problem of psychologists sexually assaulting patients and the ineffectiveness of state licensing boards to deal with the problem, April 20, 1987.
Tags: TAPE; 5248; 5249; 5450; 5454 AND 5459 ARE ON THE SAME TAPE. MD Wallace psychologist licensing board.
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Dr. Edson
WHA-TV (Madison, Wis.) looks into case of a psychologist convicted and jailed for sexually assaulting juvenile patients; another doctor tried to have the psychologist investigated for years prior to his conviction; the hospital, colleagues, and the state medical society say they did not notice anything going on, May 30, 1986.