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 "testing company" ...
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Bad to the Bone
When four executives of a medical-device company called Synthes went to jail for illegally marketing a bone cement—five patients had died after it was injected into their spines—Mina Kimes knew there had to be a compelling saga behind a case that had generated little coverage beyond local news articles. So she began digging, first with FOIA requests for never-before-published government documents, and then assembling hundreds of pages of court transcripts and internal company e-mails and reports. She used that foundation to begin the harder challenge: persuading Synthes employees, many of them terrified by the criminal case and the company’s intimidating chairman, to talk to her. With six months of grueling, old-fashioned reporting, Kimes succeeded, and “Bad to the Bone” is the masterful result. Not only did she persuade more than 20 current and former company employees to speak, but she also revealed a story whose disturbing breadth far exceeded the case presented in court. Her tour de force reporting raises profound new questions about the culpability of a key figure who wasn’t charged: Hansjörg Wyss, the reclusive and controlling Swiss founder and chairman—one of the richest people in the world—who made crucial decisions about how to sell the bone cement. This is a classic tale of corporate malfeasance: Warned by the government not to sell its bone cement for use in the spine, Synthes ignored the admonition despite clear evidence of lethal danger—a pig had died within seconds when the cement was tested on it—and encouraged surgeons to use the cement on people, five of whom died soon afterward. But “Bad to the Bone” isn’t just an exposé. It opens a window into a broader issue: how the medical system actually runs. Readers see how salespeople with no medical training advise surgeons—inside the OR during operations—on how to use their devices. They experience the tale of one surgeon who continues using the cement even after two of his patients died. Oh, and what sort of justice does Synthes itself receive? Wyss sells it, for $20 billion, to health care giant Johnson & Johnson, which praises Synthes’s “culture” and “values.” Corporate crime. Death on the operating room table. Secret e-mails. Surgeons on the edge. An imperious multibillionaire CEO. It’s a mesmerizing article, and Kimes’s reporting takes readers on a deeply unsettling journey that ensures they’ll never look at the medical system the same way again.
Tags: Medical devices; bone cement; Synthes
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Shattered Bakeware
Consumer Reports conducted a year-long fight to win three Freedom of Information requests and uncover product safety information about a common kitchen item, glass bakeware, which had been reported to shatter violently in consumers' kitchens. As a result of the story, we unearthed information, which companies fought fiercely to keep secret, that showed there was real cause for concern. We also did real-life testing in our labs. And now the CPSC is investigating.
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What's on the Menu?
Eight stations in the E.W. Scripps Television station Group worked together to investigate claims by national restaurant chains about low-fat and low-calorie menu items. The group specifically gathered menus from restaurants who listed the fat and/or calorie content directly on their menus, and decided to have the food tested at Analytical Laboratories, Inc. in Boise, Idaho. They created an excel spreadsheet and assigned each station three foods listed on various low-fat/low-calorie menus on the same way. The stations each packed their food the exact same way and videotaped this procedure to verify protocol. The packages were then sent overnight to Analytical Laboratories, Inc. for testing. The test results showed that out of the 23 items tested, 78% were over the fat limit and almost 69% were over the calorie limit listed on the package. A producer from KNXV-TV then contacted all the restaurants involved in the test and asked for a response. No company would go on camera for the story, though the company that owns Chili's and Macaroni Grill apologized and said they would work to reinforce the menu standards.
Tags: food; nutrition; low-fat; low-calorie; Ohio; false advertising
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GMA Gets Answers
This series takes a hard look at the problems Americans are facing with insurance carriers, both public and private. In each story, Anchor Chris Cuomo profiles people fighting battles against insurance companies that are denying their claims. The investigators tried to get answers to claimants' questions about why their claims were being denied, even though they appeared to be following their insurance policy rules to a tee. They found that many consumers find themselves enmeshed in a complex and confusing system that allows insurers to wrongfully deny or delay claims with little possibility of penalty.
Tags: disease; genetic test; Medicaid; Insurance; claims; deny claims; public health
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Leaks in the System
KMSP-TV found that oversight for drug testing of commercial truckers was lax. This allowed truckers to adulterate or substitute specimens in order to pass a test. Also they found that despite drug test being required, companies in Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to put drivers behind the wheel without testing them first. Lastly, they exposed a loophole that allowed failed drivers to keep working in the industry.
Tags: trucking; transportation; drugs; drug testing; oversight; Minnesota; Wisconsin; commercial trucking; Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration;
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Assignment Peru: Poison in La Oroya
American mining company Doe Run bought a metalurgical plant in La Oroya, Peru, promising to clean it up after tests showed 99 percent of children born after the take-over had incredibly high level of lead contamination. Ten years later, the company has asked for extensions on the deadlines.
Tags: lead poisoning; air pollution; Doe Run; Hunter Farrell; SEC filings; La Oroya; Peru;
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The Holy Grail of Fuel Additives
WFAA looked into the state-supported diesel additive said to have the ability to cleanse the air and improve fuel mileage. Their investigation found that not only was the product's effectiveness overstated, but the additive, known as "Green Plus," was actually "nearly pure rubbing alcohol." Usually, high-grade isopropyl alcohol sells for $25 a gallon, but the Texas state government was being charged more than $600 a gallon by the California-based company that was selling this additive. When confronted, "The company ultimately acknowledged their product was essentially rubbing alcohol, but claimed the additive had a secret catalytic blend of virtually immeasurable amounts of trace metals, accounting for the higher cost." Tests by fuel emission testing labs "revealed the product had little or no impact on reducing diesel emissions." In addition, companies that gave testimonials about Green Plus admitted their claims were false. As a result, there was a federal investigation, and the Texas government eliminated Green Plus from its list of approved fuel additives.
Tags: Fuel additives; fuel; diesel fuel; rubbing alcohol; isopropyl alcohol; fuel emissions; fuel mileage; government environmental programs; environment
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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
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Big Pharma's Shameful Secret
The story and five sidebars investigate the dangers of privately administered drug trials that are killing otherwise healthy people. Because companies stand to make billions on the next block-buster drug, they are taking more risks with their trials and the people who sign up for them. The story offers an in-depth look of the possibly dangerous practices of the largest test center in the U.S., SFCB in Miami, who pay poor citizens and immigrants to be part of their clinical trials.
Tags: prescription drugs; test centers; clinical trials; FDA; SFCB; Miami; Open Records Law; experimental medicine
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La Oroya
KMOV reporters investigated a smelter in La Oroya, Peru, run by a St. Louis-based Doe Run Company. La Oroya has been heavily contaminated by the smelter and almost every child in the small community has tested positive for lead poisoning.
Tags: Environment; pollution; lead poisoning; Peru; Doe Run Company; metal smelter; Andes