Female inmates sterilized in California prisons without approval

“Doctors under contract with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sterilized nearly 150 female inmates from 2006 to 2010 without required state approvals, The Center for Investigative Reporting has found.”

Data obtained and analyzed by ProPublica suggest another factor in the drug Bystolic's rapid success: Many of the drug's top prescribers have financial ties to Forest Laboratories, its maker.

The 27 senators who voted against an immigration overhaul bill amendment, which strengthens border security but is also a step towards passing the overall immigration package, on average received very little money from the computer industry, human rights groups and labor unions, but did receive heavy support from donors in the agribusiness industry, according to an OpenSecrets Blog post.

In Connecticut, it can take two years or longer for complaints against physicians to result in license suspensions, revocations and other disciplinary actions by the state Medical Examining Board, working with the DPH. According to a Connecticut Health I-Team report, a review of disciplinary decisions in the past 18 months shows that the medical board rarely acts within a year of an incident occurring – and sometimes the process takes as long as four years, with physicians still practicing freely in the interim.

"Eight California hospitals — including four in the Los Angeles area — are among the institutions paying the maximum fine under a new Medicare program designed to reduce high patient readmission rates. Under the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act, the federal government has started fining hospitals with high readmissions rates as much as 1 percent of the money that Medicare would normally reimburse them. Working to reduce runaway costs, Medicare is now penalizing hospitals across California and nationwide for patients who must be admitted again within 30 days," according to an investigation by KPCC.

"In lawsuits and disciplinary records, state and federal authorities cite a number of reasons that doctors prescribe improperly. Some run mills where patients get prescriptions if they pay cash for a visit. Others have relationships with drug companies that influence what they prescribe. Regulators say some doctors choose inappropriate medications under pressure from families or facilities. Research also shows that doctors often don't keep up with the latest studies and drug warnings. ProPublica's examination of Part D data from 2007 through 2010 showed that, in many cases, Medicare failed to act against providers who have been suspended or disciplined by other regulatory authorities." Read the full investigation published by ProPublica and The Washington Post here.

Also published this weekend is a database of Medicare's prescription drug program.

"Maple Grove surgeon Joseph Pietrafitta has been sued at least six times for malpractice, leading to $1.2 million in settlements for former patients. The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice also has cited some of the lawsuits in ordering Pietrafitta to take corrective action for “inappropriate” conduct. In 2010, no conventional insurance carrier would give him malpractice coverage, court records show. That could have put him out of business, but Pietrafitta got coverage from the ­Minnesota Joint Underwriting Association (MJUA), the insurer of last resort. The MJUA was created by the Legislature in 1976 to provide liability insurance to doctors, nurses and hospitals unable to get it anywhere else. It won’t release its records to the public, including names of those health care providers, or even how many they cover. A Star Tribune examination of Department of Commerce records and court documents has found that the group has spent at least $32 million over the last decade to settle claims, including $12 million to resolve 169 claims filed against health care providers, some of whom were accused of crippling or killing patients." Read the Star Tribune's full investigation here.

The contract company hired to provide medical care to Arizona prisoners failed to treat an inmate and that may have led to his death, according to a report from KPNX-(NBC) Phoenix. The medical provider was already under fire and this is the latest example of a systemic problem in Arizona prisons. The investigation led to complaints being filed with the Arizona Board of Nursing against the nurse in question in this story and several other nurses. Wexford Health said that it was confident the company and its employees acted appropriately.

A Statesman analysis of deaths at state mental health hospitals reveals the deaths are rarely investigated outside the hospital, doctors are regularly cleared of improper care and deaths in state prisons get more scrutiny than those in state hospitals. Read the full investigation here.

"A highly paid psychiatrist working in state mental health hospitals engaged in a pattern of false billing claims while collecting more than $430,000 in payments beyond his base salary over three years, according to investigative documents obtained by the Star Tribune." Read the Star Tribune's full investigation here.