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 "veterans' care" ...
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Los Angeles VA Has Made Millions on Rental Deals
This story is about one of the most fought-over pieces of property in Los Angeles, the 400 acre Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus in West Los Angeles. It’s in an affluent neighborhood and has been a target of developers. But with many unused buildings, it’s also been coveted as a place to house some of L.A.’s 8,000 homeless veterans. That was the original use of the land, which was donated for an Old Soldiers’ Home in the late 19th century. The VA has not acted on plans announced in 2007 to begin rehabbing unused buildings there for housing for homeless vets. Meanwhile, it’s rented out land and buildings to commercial enterprises. There is no public accounting for this income. Through FOIA and other documents, we found that the VA is renting out the property using a law intended for sharing health care resources, though the renters are non-health related commercial enterprises. We were also able to estimate that the VA has taken in at least 28 million and possibly more than 40 million dollars over the past dozen years, far more than the cost of re-habbing a building to house homeless vets.
Tags: Property; neighborhood; land uses; veterans
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Returning Home to Battle
While the Obama administration declared care for returning U.S. military personnel to be a top priority, reporter Aaron Glantz found something entirely different when he drilled down in the San Francisco Bay Area – home to more than a quarter-million veterans. In a series of stories for The Bay Citizen, which is part of the Center for Investigative Reporting, Glantz exposed an alarming failure inside the Department of Veterans Affairs, where mistakes and massive delays in processing disability claims for ailing veterans were the norm, sometimes leading to tragic consequences. Glantz was the first to detail this trend, finding that tens of thousands of Northern California veterans had been waiting an average of 313 days for a decision from the Oakland office on compensation claims for conditions as serious as traumatic brain injury. The Oakland regional office ranks fifth in the nation for number of veterans served – nearly 1 million veterans from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. The story was so shocking it prompted 16 members of Congress to demand immediate help for veterans filing through Oakland. More action quickly followed. Glantz had found through his reporting that the problem was not limited to the Bay Area. Next he set out to show it. The decision to dig deeper – to go beyond the local story – helped bring greater context to such a critically important issue. Through rich storytelling and clear writing, Glantz ably captured the plight of our veterans in his series, Returning Home to Battle.
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"Brain Wars: How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded"
NPR and ProPublica teamed up to investigate the "medical system for America's troops and veterans." Brain damage caused by "shock waves" from roadside bombs have become the "signature wounds" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military promised to improve the health care for this type of injury, but reporters found a lack of diagnosis and treatment for the brain damage, as well as "bureaucratic indifference."
Tags: Iraq; Afghanistan; roadside bombs; military; Walter Reed Army Medical Center; TBI; brain injury; Fort Bliss; Pentagon; Building 805
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Medicating the Military
The stories looked at the nature and scope of the use of prescription drugs in the military community, with a focus on psychiatric medications and painkillers. The reporting found that use of psychiatric medications has risen dramatically in the past several years and some doctors suggest it may be a factor in the military's suicide epidemic of recent years. Reporters found that many psychiatric drugs - including powerful anti-convulsants and anti-psychotic medications - were being used "off label", or in ways not formally approved by the FDA. Reporters found that many troops were taking up to 10 medications at a time in so-called drug cocktails that experts say are untested and unproven in these combinations. Reporters also found that deaths caused by accidental drug overdoses had tripled during the past several years and that the Army's specialty care units were quietly conducting internal investigations and making significant changes to hospital protocols to reduce risk of accidental deaths. Finally, they found that psychiatric drug usage was also up significantly among military children.
Tags: Military; Army; Veteran; Health; Wellness; Medicine; Drugs; Pain killers; Psychiatric Medication; Mental Health; Suicide; Depression; Military Children; Hospital; Prescription
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"The Lonely Soldier"
In her book, author Helen Benedict reveals what it is like to be a female in the military and serving overseas. She shares stories of sexual abuse and "discrimination against women and people of color." Female soldiers also suffer from health problems caused by the "lack of adequate medical care for women." Benedict also looks at the lives of women after they return home who suffer from isolation and "multiples traumas of combat and sexual assault."
Tags: Iraq war; female soldiers; National Guard; Afghanistan; Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Military Sexual Trauma; Air Force; Marines
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Benefits Denied
This series reveals the “shameful failing of both the state and federal government in living up to its promises to both Indiana’s most vulnerable and it’s most brave”. The story began when a “1.3 billion dollar state welfare contract” was cancelled and “new federal directives were sent to every V.A. office nationwide”. Further, when people were sick and turning to the V.A. for help, their requests were denied.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs; medical care; Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA); support; military; soldiers; agencies
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How the VA Abandons Our Vets
Sgt. Juan Jimenez was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, and in need of immediate care, he sought disability benefits from the VA. He then learned of a bizarre regulation: before he could receive benefits he would have to prove his wounds came from war.
Tags: veteran suicide; Veterans for Common Sense; Veterans Affairs; Purple Heart; armed forces;
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Carmelo Rodriguez Story
Carmelo Rodriguez was a marine who said his skin cancer was misdiagnosed while he was serving in Iraq. The Carmelo Rodriguez story raises disturbing questions about the care that military doctors give to servicemen and women, and it presses the issue of whether soldiers should be able to sue the federal government for medical malpractice, which is not currently allowed.
Tags: Carmelo Rodriguez; health care; veterans; military; Iraq; misdiagnosis; malpractice;
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How The VA Abandons Our Vets: Denying care, delaying benefits, deceiving the public
The investigation uncovered unethical and criminal behavior by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' top brass. It tells the story of Sgt. Juan Jimenez, who was struck by a roadside bomb in Iraq. In seeking disability benefits from the VA, Jimenez was told he had to prove his injuries came from war. Desperate after a three and a half year battle, he joined with other Iraq veterans who had been denied benefits and sued the VA.
Tags: veterans; Iraq; benefits; disability; war; medical care; lawsuit
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The Social Security backlog
A four-part, multi-article series examined the backlog of social security cases, particularly in the Portland, Ore. area. When presented with the findings, Social Security top official Commissioner Michael J. Astrue acknowledged the backlog of disability claims has gone "seriously in the wrong direction." The reporters found that most people who fight for Social Security benefits after being initially denied with their cases, but the average wait for a disability hearing was 512 days -- 669 days in the Portland office. The series highlighted that the system was particularly hard on veterans as well. Also, using internal Social Security figures, the reporters determined that the agency would pay about $9 billion in benefits to people who no longer deserved them. They later found that the real cost for the failure to review disability cases was between $10 and $11 billion.
Tags: social security; veterans' care; Department of Veteran's Affairs; disability hearings; medical benefits; Freedom of Information Act