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 "refrigerators" ...
-
What's in your burger?
This story revealed how a number of restaurants aren’t following health code guidelines. These violations include not using gloves, not cooking at correct temperatures, no mouth guards at buffets, no sanitizer in rag buckets, dirty restrooms, no dates on food in the refrigerator, and storing food where it is subject to contamination.
Tags: health inspection; records; Cedar City; food; sickness; food protection code; Public Health Department; home-owned; chains; privately owned
-
Patients in Danger: The Caremark Investigation
Caremark, one of the biggest health-care organizations in the nation, was failing to provide necessary health care to customers. KHOU's investigation found that this included Caremark limiting dosages and refill amounts for necessary drugs like insulin for diabetics or anti-rejection drugs for transplant patients, often going against the physician's written prescription. Caremark employees in multiple states had a mandate to change these prescriptions as the company attempted to save money. In addition, "used" medications which had been returned to Caremark were simply relabeled and sent out again without testing. This practice is illegal, because for instance a drug like insulin loses half its effectiveness if not properly refrigerated. Also, Caremark employees informed KHOU of cover-ups that occurred during government inspections.
Tags: Drugs; Caremark; insulin; health care; prescription
-
Defective Fridges
This story exposed widespread defects in GE refrigerators. Months after the story aired, GE settled consumer lawsuits filed by owners of the defective appliances.
Tags: product liability; refrigerators; General Electric; GE; consumer lawsuits; product defect
-
We overpay by 20% for military goods"
The Pentagon's prime vendor program costs taxpayers about 20 percent more for goods. The Pentagon does not shop for the cheapest goods but employs middlemen who charged $20 for plastic ice cube trays and $32,000 for refrigerators.
Tags: military budget; Pentagon; no-bid contracts; army; armed forces
-
Fridge Connection. A tangled tale of GE Appliance smuggling and laundered money. Firm gets tough on dealers in Miami area, prodded by a gadfly in Colombia. The Medellin Black Market.
According to the article, "GE auditors are combing through the records of dealers, scrutinizing the way they are paid and making sure they are following a GE policy: that not retail customer can buy more than 10 items, or more than two of any one kind, for use in a foreign country. Since the audits began, GE has cut off some distributors, disrupting relationships and hurting sales of refrigerators and washing machines in South Florida.
Tags: foreign; money; smuggling; money; laundered money; money laundering; cash
-
American Dreams
"Each year, hundreds of non-English speaking Mexican men and women are recruited by one of the largest landscaping corporations in the U.S., Torre & Bruglio of Pontiac, MI. T&B brings them in the U.S. under the special federal 'Guestworker' program to live and work in suburban Detroit for eight months. They are promised good housing and wages of $9 to $12 and hour to trim shrubs and cut grass --a fortune for most, who live in a country where the minimum wage is $5 a day, if they can find work." This report shows how these people were living in dangerous and deplorable houses, with major health code and zoning violations. The reporters also found that T&B would make all kinds of deductions from their salaries to pay for rent, refrigerators, furniture, television sets, uniforms, boots and equipment necessary to perform the work they were hired for. They also found that these workers were making less than minimum wage. All this on top of several violations of federal labor law.
Tags: Mexican workers; federal labor law; illegal deductions; fraud; Torre & Bruglio; Michigan; Detroit; TAPE; TV; TRANSCRIPT
-
Dr. Death and His Accomplice
CBS News 60 Minutes tells the story of Dr. Larry Ford, a gynecologist who hired a hitman to kill his business partner and committed suicide after police connected him to the attempted hit. "When police went to search Dr. Ford's home in Irvine, CA, they found guns and explosives buried in his backyard and a cache of biological agents -- including botulism, salmonella, cholera and typhoid -- in his refrigerator. Police found evidence that Dr. Ford had allegedly poisoned women with some of his germs or chemicals, and (60 Minutes) discovered that a number of female acquaintances of his had long-term debilitating symptoms which rendered them legally disabled. Tips poured in to local police that Dr. Ford had military and intelligence connections, and that he had worked for South Africa's apartheid-era bio-warfare program. (60 Minutes) discovered strong evidence linking Dr. Ford to the leader of the South African program, Dr. Wouter Basson, who has been dubbed 'Dr. Death' by the African press, for his mandate to kill blacks and other opponents of the white-ruled government."
Tags: Dr. Larry Ford; Dr. Wouter Basson; Irvine; California; war; South Africa; TAPE; TRANSCRIPT
-
Outbreak
The Washington Post Magazine investigates the failure of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prevent 21 deaths caused by contaminated meat from Sara Lee Corp. The story reveals that the contamination occurred because of moisture problems in the cooling section of "the giant Bil Mar Foods meatpacking plant in western Michigan." While deaths were tolling, the USDA was leery to issue a press release for fear not to face the legal implications of wrongly accusing the meatproducer. Even though Bil Mar quietly recalled the deadly products from the market, people were still eating meat kept in refrigerators or supermarkets and contaminated with the dangerous Listeria bacteria, the magazine reports. A major finding is that government lacks regulatory power to recall unsafe foods, as well as penalties system for repeated violations in the food industry.
Tags: health; FDA; meat; bacteria; contamination; Sara Lee; CDC; listeria; sanitation; immune system; pregnancy; hot dogs; deli meats; consumers; lawsuits
-
No title (id: 10846)
In Pennsylvanis, the rent-to-own industry preys upon the working poor, welfare recipients and people without credit or savings. In exchange for no credit checks ad weekly cash payments, the stores charge upward of 200 percent interest to purchase luxury items like TV's, VCR's and stereos as well as basic necessities like beds and refrigerators. Many times, the goods being sold are used. Although the rent-to-own transactions are illegal in Pennsylvanis, contracts and other documents obtained by Santus and Josar illustrated how rent-to-own companies finesse the law to continue their predatory practices.
Tags: Sharon Santus; Davis Josar; 18 pages
-
No title (id: 7312)
Zephyr (Galesburg, Ill.) details a toxic chemical spill at a refrigerator manufacturing plant; clean-up procedures were sloppy and workers weren't told they were being exposed; the company neglected to monitor health complaints, March, April and July 1990.
Tags: None