The global food crisis
A series by The Washington Post explores the causes and implications of the current global food crisis, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1970s. "A complex combination of poor harvests, competition with biofuels, higher energy prices, surging demand in China and India, and a blockage in global trade is driving food prices up worldwide." The impact is not limited to impoverished countries; consumers in the U.S. and other countries are feeling the impact of rising food costs.
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Contaminated drinking water found in some LA public schools
A three-month investigation by Joel Grover of KNBC-Los Angeles found lead levels in drinking water that exceeded EPA safety limits at several area public schools. Contaminated fountains were found at nine of the 30 schools tested. An internal report obtained by the network showed that the district had known about the problem for 18 years. In some cases, it was found that employees falsified records to indicate that drinking water was safe.
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Safety issues ignored despite marked increase in nail gun injuries
A Sacramento Bee investigation into the dangers associated with nail guns reveals a dramatic increase in injuries over the last decade. Andrew McIntosh reports that despite an increase in injuries — some resulting in death — the Consumer Product Safety Commission has done little to address safety issues. While many accidents go unreported, an April 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that injuries have "increased more than threefold in a decade, from about 12,000 in 1995 to about 42,000 in 2005."
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Industry controls state hospital regulation
Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register explores the influence that the Iowa hospital industry exerts over state regulators and lawmakers. In Iowa today, a state license to run a hospital costs $10, just as it did in 1947. That's less than the cost of a state license to open a bait shop. And the state's Hospital Licensing Board is made up exclusively of industry CEOs. Those CEOs belong to a PAC that opposes issues such as mandatory criminal background checks on hospital workers, increases in licensing fees, and updated standards on new hospital construction.
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San Francisco emergency response times lagging
Jim Doyle of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the city's emergency response system is failing to meet response goals. In February 2004, the city adopted a 6-1/2 minute standard for emergency response. Since then, at least 439 people have died while waiting for delayed emergency assistance. "The The Chronicle found that delayed emergency medical responses are the result of numerous causes, from chronic understaffing, language barriers and botched dispatches at the city's 911 call center to traffic congestion and unavailable nearby ambulances."
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Unnecessary transplants boon for clinics at great cost to patients
The three-day special report by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters Andrew Conte and Luis Fabregas found that hundreds of patients each year undergo unnecessary liver transplants. The story cites national data for transplants at 127 hospitals across the nation between 2002 and 2006. The reporters looked at MELD scores—a government-approved standard used to determine how urgently a patient needs a liver— to see how sick transplant patients were and how patients with the least urgent conditions fared post-surgery.
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Psychiatric screening of military personel still lagging
The Hartford Courant's Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman continue their coverage of the U.S. military's mental health policies with a report revealing that fewer than 1 percent of deploying combat troops received mental-health evaluations in 2007 despite a congressional order to improve screening, as revealed in pre-deployment data for nearly 350,000 soldiers sent to war. Those numbers contrast with several military studies that have found mental-health problems in close to 10 percent of service members awaiting deployment. The Courant's latest story came days after the military released a report that found that repeat deployments are straining soldiers’ mental well-being, with 27.2 percent of noncommissioned officers on third and fourth deployments screening positive for depression, anxiety or acute stress.
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Probe finds trace pharmecueticals in US drinking water
A five-month probe by Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, of the Associated Press, found traces of medications in the drinking water supplies of over 40 million Americans. While the testing found pharmaceuticals diluted to miniscule concentration levels, some scientists question the long-term effects of sustained exposure. The AP reports: "The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP. The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested."
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Worst nursing homes collecting bonuses
Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register reports that some of the worst nursing homes in Iowa are collecting tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded bonuses that are supposed to reward quality care. The bonuses are paid through a little-known program that boosts the amount of Medicaid money received by homes that score well on certain "accountability measures." The Register's analysis of the program shows that 16 of the 23 homes that faced large fines last year for causing deaths or injuries are this year collecting quality-of-care bonuses from the Medicaid program.
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Little punishment for doctors who overprescribe
In a third installment of "Dangerous Doctors," Gina Barton of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel showed how doctors who prescribe too many painkillers to patients in Wisconsin are rarely disciplined— even when patients are harmed. One man who overdosed had three doctors with troubled pasts, including a doctor who would later go to prison for selling prescriptions in a department store.
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"Coincidence or Cluster?"
A six-part series by Kevin Craver of the Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.) looks into lawsuits facing two chemical companies after a cluster of brain cancer patients were discovered in a small town. Craver studied documents going back 30 years to investigate the site's regulatory history, inspections, claims and counterclaims about pollutants and human exposure. The 22 plaintiffs in the case point to the disposal operations of Rohm and Haas and Modine Manufacturing Co. and whether the company's practices allowed carcinogens, such as vinyl choride, to leach into groundwater.
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Designed to treat addicts, 'bupe fix' gains popularity on streets
A three-part investigative series by The Baltimore Sun looks at the drug buprenorphine which is now being commonly prescribed to addicts to help them kick their addictions. It has shown great promise with opiate addictions by curbing withdrawal symptoms. But in plentiful supply, it is now showing up on the streets where abusers are using it to get high.
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Mood-altering drugs prescribed frequently to foster kids
Gary Craig from the Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle investigated the growing use of mood-altering prescription drugs among youth in foster care and uncovered cases of children as young as one year old being prescribed psychotropic drugs. The investigation revealed many trends in the prescribing of these drugs, and disturbing statistics about their prevalence in the foster care system.
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Insiders profit from FDA's Fast Track
A seven-month investigation by The Plain Dealer's Joel Rutchick and Brie Zeltner into the FDA's Fast Track drug review program has proven benefits to investors while doing little or nothing to speed up the availability of new medical treatments, compared to expedited review options that already existed before the drug industry lobbied to create Fast Track."Fast The news of Fast Track designation creates a boon for day traders, hedge funds and others looking to make quick money off biotech stocks." Securities information shows that stocks surge at the announcement of Fast Track designations, resulting in hefty profits for company insiders.
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Danger of common chemical downplayed
In a second installment of "Chemical Fallout," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak found that the chemical industry has funded much of the science claiming that the popular chemical bisphenol A is safe. The reporters built a database of 258 scientific studies spanning 20 years of research into the chemical and found that 80 percent of the research showed the chemical poses health risks to laboratory animals. Bisphenol A can be found in hard plastics — including baby bottles, dental sealants, PVC pipes and reusable water bottles.
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Emergency response times lagging in Ohio's Delaware County
An investigation by Paul Aker of WBNS in Columbus, Ohio, shows that Delaware County's emergency response times fall short of the industry standard. The National Fire Protection Association's voluntary guidelines call for processing 99 percent of calls within 90 seconds. In Delaware County, the 911 center's interim director told Aker he wants to see dispatches under two minutes. WBNS looked at a sample of calls for suspected heart attacks and found that 59 percent took more than one minute to process and 30 percent took at least 90 seconds. The story also revealed that the center does not track how long the phone rings before a dispatcher picks up.
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Lobbyists see 'confidential' list of worst nursing homes
The Des Moines Register reports that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has refused to publicly release its full list of the nation's worst-performing nursing homes, has shared that same information with lobbyists for the nursing home industry. Reporter Clark Kauffman writes that the federal agency has publicly identified only 54 of the 128 homes on its list of "special-focus facilities." The other 74 poor-performing homes have not been disclosed to seniors, their family members and advocates. Yet the American Health Care Association, which lobbies Congress on behalf of 10,000 care facilities nationwide, recently received the full list from CMS on the condition that it not be shared with the public.
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Consumers unknowingly exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals
Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviewed more than 250 scientific studies and examined thousands of pages of regulatory documents for their investigation detailing the failure of the federal government to regulate chemicals known as endocrine disruptors. The Environmental Protection Agency promised a decade ago to screen 15,000 chemicals, yet this is still not being done. Consumers are unknowingly exposed to these potentially hazardous compounds in the contents and packaging of countless everyday products.
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Haven Healthcare riddled with problems
Lisa Chedekel and Lynne Touhy of the Hartford Courant exposed the patient care issues and financial troubles at Haven Healthcare, one of Connecticut's largest nursing home chains. The reporters utilized Medicare data and Connecticut Department of Public Health data to uncover patient care problems. The investigation also revealed that the chain's CEO funneled corporate resources into a country music record label he owns. The series prompted the government to intervene at facilities run by the company, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection.
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State data reveal high veteran suicide rates
A five-month investigation by Armen Keteyian of CBS News uncovered a startling suicide rate for veterans. Neither the Department of Defense nor the Department of Veterans Affairs keep accurate numbers on veteran suicide rates. CBS News requested suicide data from all 50 states dating back to 1995, and 45 states provided the information. In 2005, "there were at least 6,256 suicides among those who served in the armed forces. That's 120 each and every week, in just one year." Among veterans 20 to 24 years of age, the suicide rate was two to four times greater than non-veterans of the same age.
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Death rates rise at Kabul maternity hospital supported by U.S. training
Maternal and infant death rates spiked at a major Kabul maternity hospital that was promoted as a model of U.S. medical training in Afghanistan. Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals that "the rate of normal-sized babies dying in labor and delivery at Rabia Balkhi jumped 67 percent last year." The statistics, including death rates from C-sections, raised concern at U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The same U.S.-funded healthcare program also spent $1.3 million on a no-bid contract for LeapFrog talking books "The idea was to teach illiterate Afghan women about hygiene, prenatal care, immunizations and nutrition from talking picture books popular with U.S. children." Documents from the CDC, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson are posted online.
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Energy devices sell snake oil technology
Michael Berens and Christine Willmsen examine the global behind fraudulent medical devices that "claim to cure cancer, reduce cholesterol, even eliminate AIDS. Their operators say these 'energy medicine' devices work by transmitting radio frequencies or electromagnetic waves through the body, identifying problems, then 'zapping' them. Their claims are a fraud. The Seattle Timeshas found that thousands of these unproven devices &emdash; many of them illegal or dangerous &emdash; are used in hundreds of venues nationwide."
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Investigation examines how dentists maximize Medicaid payments
A five-month investigation by Roberta Baskin of WJLV in Washington, D.C.,"reveals that children on Medicaid who visit two Washington area clinics are suffering pain for profit." Former staffers and patients of the Small Smiles clinics, which are among the few dental practices serving children on Medicaid, allege that dentists routinely put children in restraints during exams, separated them from parents, and gave staff bonuses for upgrading procedures, such as crowns or baby root canals instead of fillings, to get more money from Medicaid. A Colorado-based company called FORBA manages 63 Small Smiles clinics nationwide.
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The Mercury Connection
Hundreds of miles of South Carolina rivers are tainted with mercury, and the state warns people not to eat fish caught in some of these waterways. But no one had checked to see if the mercury was harming humans until The Post and Courier in Charleston had tests conducted on people who eat the fish as part of an investigative series on mercury pollution. Tony Bartelme and Doug Pardue report that nearly half of the people tested had mercury levels above the amount considered safe.
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Santa Clara County soil tainted by pesticides
Amy Lynch of The San Jose Mercury News reports on environmental issues plaguing Santa Clara County. The county has more toxic cleanup sites involving old orchard pesticides than any county in California, as well as a significant number of other sites contaminated by other types of farming or pesticide handling, according to a Mercury News analysis of state records." It is believed that the problem is more extensive than even these reports suggest because they have only been identified due to pending development. Accompanying materials detail how the contamination occurred, a map of contamination sites, and the types of pesticides (pdf) present in the county.
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Athletes' weight gain can lead to major problems
Garry Lenton of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., reports on the increased average size of high school football players. The newspaper used high school football rosters from 1988 and 2006, calculating the body mass index of 800 players total and finding that "Eighteen percent of 2006 players had a body mass index of 30 or more, twice the 1988 rate." Some of these young athletes, if they maintain their 300-plus pound weight after their playing days are over, risk health problems like leg and back issues, as well as strokes and heart problems. The culture that has led to this trend is discussed, as one coach brings up the old adage that "You can't coach size."
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American Imports, Chinese Deaths
Over a 12-month period, investigative reporter Loretta Tofani traveled to China, examining worker conditions and "observed first-hand how Chinese workers routinely risk their health and sometimes their lives making products for export to the United States and other countries." Her series, printed in the Salt Lake Tribune, tells of workers using dangerous, outdated machines, sometimes resulting in serious injury. Also, the air in some factories has proven toxic, with workers exposed to benzene fumes and cadmium dust. The six-part series ends with an examination of who is to blame for these conditions, and what can be done.
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More questionable deaths uncovered at Wisconsin psychiatric hospital
Using police and coroner records, Mary Zahn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel found three more deaths at a state psychiatric hospital involving questionable medical decisions. One woman complained she was paralyzed after a fall, but doctors and nurses at Winnebago Mental Health Institute didn't believe her. They waited six days to take her to a hospital where she was diagnosed as a quadriplegic; she died 15 months later. State officials didn't know about the case until two years after the fall and spent just one day investigating.
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Assisted living residents pay more for over-the-counter medication
An investigation by Jesse Jones of KING-Seattle finds that some residents of assisted-living facilities pay up to five times more for over-the-counter drugs purchased from pharmacies, compared to regular retail prices. Health care providers say the costs are justified because state law requires that a nurse or pharmacist package individual doses for patients who need assistance using the products safely.
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Reporting of sudden infant deaths vary wildly across the country
The results of an in-depth investigation into infant deaths by Thomas Hargrove and Lee Bowman was launched online this week. They looked at over 40,000 infant deaths since 1992 to find that "the quality of infant death investigations, the level of training for coroners, and the amount of oversight and review vary enormously across the country." An online database of deaths between 2000-2004 allows readers to see how infant deaths are reported in their county compared to others throughout the US.
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Indentured doctors
Foreign doctors are being exploited by the Nevada physicians who sponsor their visas for U.S. medical residencies, reports Marshall Allen of the Las Vegas Sun. Under the Conrad State 30 program, foreign physicians are eligible for U.S. medical residencies located in underserved urban or rural areas. Instead, Allen writes, "Those sponsoring physicians pull the foreign doctors away from the clinics and assign them to work in Las Vegas hospitals, where they generate more revenue for their sponsors." In some cases, a portion of the foreign doctors' pay is redirected to the sponsor, too.
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Investigation leads to recall of deadly crib
An investigation by the Chicago Tribune prompted the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall popular cribs sold under the Simplicity and Graco brand names from 1997 to 2008. Maurice Possley of the Tribune found numerous complaints about a drop rail that "can detach from the crib's frame, creating a dangerous gap that has led to the deaths of at least three children." After Possley found a victim's family - two years after the baby's death - the commission sent an investigator to examine the faulty crib and issued a recall three days later.
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The football injury to die for
Most high-school football players aren't concerned about concussions, nor would they tell their coach if they got one. However, Alan Schwarz of The New York Times, gives some compelling arguments for why they should be a lot more concerned. According Schwarz's investigative report, teenagers who receive a second blow to the head following a first, even benign, injury can very easily slip into a "metabolic chain of events," winding up in a coma or even dying. At least 50 high school football players have been killed or have sustained serious head injuries on the field since 1997.
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US exports unsafe products
While much hoopla was made of the recall of certain Chinese-made products by the Consumer Product Safety Division, United States companies have been allowed to export unsafe products overseas, according to a report by Russell Carrollo of The Sacramento Bee. These items included very flammable children’s clothing, toys and wax crayons with toxic chemicals in them and other goods banned in the U.S., but deemed fit to ship.
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Accuracy of 9/11 health reports debated
Anthony DePalma and Serge F. Kovaleski of The New York Times explore questions about the health data reported by the Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which has overseen the treatment of thousands of ground zero workers. While the clinic's efforts have been called "well meaning," the resources needed to track and report data have been inadequate and caused many to question the accuracy of their findings. "Researchers in this field say that the clinic's data collection was so badly planned that its usefulness may be limited. Others say that doctors at the clinic, which has strong historical ties to labor unions, have allowed their advocacy for workers to trump their science by making statements that go beyond what their studies have confirmed."
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Disability coverage fails workers in North Carolina
In North Carolina, access to federal disability insurance eludes those who need it most. Fred Kelly of The Charlotte Observer found bureaucratic snags hold up disability payments. "The disability program is supposed to provide a safety net for workers who become injured or mentally ill, but an Observer investigation found the system is flawed for a large swath of North Carolina because administrative law judges fail to issue enough rulings to keep pace with incoming cases."
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Prescription pain med use nearly doubles
An investigation by Frank Bass of the Associated Press shows that the use of pain medication has nearly doubled in the U.S. over the past eight years. According to the latest figures from the Drug Enforcement Adminstration, "More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores…enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country." Reasons for the surge have been linked to an aging population, unprecedented marketing by pharmaceutical companies, and changes in the medical communities philosophy on pain management.
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Suicide, substance abuse deaths high in Nevada
Analysis of the CDC's mortality data by Marshall Allen and Alex Richards of the Las Vegas Sun shows that residents of Nevada and Clark County "die younger and at higher rates of suicide, substance abuse and certain chronic illnesses compared with the rates nationally and in other large counties." Sociologists and medical professionals seek to understand what is behind these trends in Nevada.
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Lead hazards still taint cheap toys
Mary Shedden of The Tampa Tribune reports on the continuing problem of lead turning up in children's toys produced outside the U.S. Using independent testing, her investigation turned up toxic levels of lead in one out of three pieces of costume jewelry or trinkets purchased from area stores. In some cases, items subject to recalls were still on the shelves. "About 9 million pieces of children's jewelry have been recalled since 2006, but an understaffed and underfunded U.S. consumer regulatory agency has failed to fine a U.S. retailer or distributor for selling jewelry containing toxic levels."
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ATVs: Deceptively Dangerous
An in-depth special report by The Oregonian explores the dangers of ATVs. "Over the past decade, the machines have soared in popularity, with 7.6 million in use. The result: Record numbers of riders end up in emergency rooms and morgues as accidents kill about 800 people a year and injure an estimated 136,700." The multimedia report includes myriad documents and video footage detailing the reality of ATV safety issues and concerns.
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Bomb factory workers seek cancer compensation
Nuclear bomb factory workers face steep hurdles getting compensation from the government after contracting cancer. As the U.S. closes many nuclear weapons sites, a growing number of those who helped build bombs are turning to lawyers and legislators to argue they are being treated unfairly, The Washington Post's Michael Alison Chandler and Joby Warrick report.
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Medical research group's conflicts of interest revealed
Reporters Susanne Rust and Cary Spivak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel detailed conflicts of interest involving the Constella Group, a private health research company that performs hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work for the federal government while also representing major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies such as Merck and GlaxoSmithKline. The reporters analyzed federal contracts data to help tell the story. Among their findings: Constella got a federal contract four years ago to oversee a list of carcinogens. Three months later, the company added a virus to the list while two of its private sector clients were developing vaccines to treat that virus.
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Numerous South Florida restaurants cited for critical health code violations
Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that nearly 2,500 restaurants in South Florida were cited for critical violations by state inspectors between July 2006 and January 2007. Since 1997, there has been a 66 percent increase in the number of confirmed food-borne illnesses tied to restaurants. "In December, the state issued disciplinary actions against 276 restaurants in the state -- 94 of them in South Florida -- and collected a total of $253,550 in fines, the Sun-Sentinel's analysis shows. South Florida's restaurants paid a total of $101,950 in fines." Included in the story is a database which allows readers to search the inspection records of South Florida restuarants.
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Recurring health violations uncovered in NC university cafeteria
In a quick-hit investigation, Corey G. Johnson of the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, uncovered a history of sanitation violations in the Methodist University student cafeteria. "Since Sodexho opened the Green and Gold Cafe in October 2002, 19 inspection reports have pointed to recurring improper sanitation of food contact surfaces and the need to use approved cleaning methods, reports show. Staff also failed to keep foods at the proper temperature in six unannounced inspections since September 2004. Several visits, including one in November — which earned a 90 — found problems with roaches and ants." Since the March inspection, a school spokesperson claims they are trying to improve the conditions.
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Toxic vapors threaten well-being of residents of Victor, NY
The Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y., presents stories from a two-month investigation into toxic vapor releases related to toxins improperly disposed of near Victor, N.Y., more than 17 years ago."State officials, drawing upon numerous visits and hundreds of water samples over the last 15 years, have mapped the damage: a mile-long plume of contaminated groundwater that underlies about 50 Victor homes and borders dozens of others. The principal contaminant, TCE [trichloroethene], can harm the central nervous, immune and reproductive systems, impair fetal development and cause cancer in people who are exposed to sufficient quantities." The Democrat and Chronicle website fleshes out the story with interactive graphics and links to documents related to the situation.
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Healthcare nonprofits spend millions in federal funds, operate in secrecy
In a two-part series, Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register examined the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care, the largest of 53 federally funded Quality Improvement Organizations. The newspaper found that the tax-exempt Iowa foundation, which investigates complaints of poor patient care received by Iowa's 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries, reviewed only 12 complaints in 2005. That same year, the foundation spent $85 million and handed out more than half a million dollars to two former executives as severance pay. The Register also reported on the salaries and complaint investigations at all of the nation's QIOs, many of which operate as tax-exempt nonprofits.
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Drug abuse, crime on rise among paramedics
A special report by Andrew McIntosh of The Sacramento Bee reveals problems with paramedics and EMTs in the state of California. Substance abuse is on the rise among paramedics, including theft of morphine on hand to treat patients in the field. Additionally, lax oversight of the paramedic and EMT licensing systems have led to fired paramedics being rehired as EMTs. The story had led to state legistlative action to tighten the licensing process, as well as a criminal forgery charge related to licensing fraud in Santa Clara County. The package includes online copies of documents obtained under the California Open Records Act.
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Housing conditions for Milwakee's impoverished mentally ill
Reforms promised after the story reveals that man under Milwaukee County's care was dead for days before his body was discovered. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Meg Kissinger continues her year-long coverage of housing conditions for Milwakee's impoverished mentally ill. The latest story details how a man had been dead for up to four days before anyone noticed. Records and interviews show he was supposed to receive daily supervision. Kissinger's earlier stories have prompted state reforms and launched a criminal investigation into the starvation death of a woman at the Milwakee County Mental Health Complex. More than $12 million has been pledged to improve housing conditions in the wake of the stories. Read the latest story and the series.
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"Shame of the State" uncovers assisted-living horrors in Pennsylvania
Ken Dilanian of The Philadelphia Inquirer found a long list of health and safety violations, a history of substandard care, and a system of state oversight that, until recently, often allowed deficient operators to violate safety rules with virtual impunity in the assisted-living homes of Philadelphia. Since 2000, at least 55 assisted-living residents have died across the state under horrible circumstances. Uncounted others were beaten or neglected at the state-regulated facilities. At least five were raped. With Nancy Phillips, Dilanian questioned the dysfunctional system that let a chain of horrors grow.
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Nail salon violations on the rise in Florida
Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that state inspectors issued 163 citations for violations at nail salons from June 2005 to July 2006, compared to 99 in 2003 to 2004. Torres examined three years of inspection data for salons that received citations from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and found "ignoring sanitation rules, failing to use disinfectant to sterilize tools, storing dirty instruments with clean ones and, in some cases, allowing unlicensed employees to work for months."
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A Hidden Shame
Alan Judd and Andy Miller of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presented the first in a series of reports on Georgia's system of state psychiatric hospitals. Reporters used state vital records and death data, autopsy reports and claims filed against the state to flag 115 suspicious deaths among patients in state custody in the past five years. "This study revealed a pattern of neglect, abuse and poor medical care in the seven state hospitals, as well as a lack of public accountability for patient deaths."
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Durham, N.C. fails to report lead detected in tap water
Michael Biesecker of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reports that the city of Durham failed to inform state regulators that there was tainted drinking water in the area. A report submitted in October claimed that the city's drinking water met federal standards despite the fact that several tests detected lead in the tap water. "Durham officials acknowledged this week that they failed to disclose at least 20 test results from seven homes to state regulators, a violation of federal rules."
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Too little choice, too much ideology
The Center for Public Integrity's International Consortium of Investigative Journalists conducted a yearlong investigation into how rigid rules and restrictions of President Bush's initiative to fight HIV/AIDS have affected countries struggling with the pandemic. The investigation found that restrictive funding and emphasis on abstinence have hindered the $15 billion effort. "Information accumulated by reporters in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) through more than 100 interviews, examination of thousands of pages of documents and reporting on the ground in affected countries indicates that this historic opportunity may be slipping away, because PEPFAR's (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) 'flawed framework' has stressed a restrictive use of the funds earmarked to combat HIV/AIDS." The investigation reveals a pattern of contradictory, conflicting and confusing policies and concludes that the picture presented is one of an extraordinarily disorganized operation. The project's home page can be viewed here.
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Methadone series leads to FDA warning
Six months after the Charleston Gazette ran a series about methadone overdose deaths nationwide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory and strenghtened the warnings on the package insert for methadone this week. The Gazette series revealed that the FDA-approved recommended dosage on methadone's old package insert was wrong and potentially deadly.
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"Fatal Food"
Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service, along with contributions from Sruthi Kunnel and Lee Bowman, completed an investigation into food-borne illness outbreak reports made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical officials in Kentucky have already ordered reform's to the state's disease reporting process as a result of this investigation. Links to the stories and data:

• A Russian roulette of food poisoning in American states
• Food safety can depend on the state you live in
• Who dies from food illness
• Findings from study of food sickness outbreaks
• Methods for the Scripps food disease story
• A nasty little list of food diseases
• Food-borne illness cases by state
• Link to data used in story

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Cardiologist given no-show contracts at New Jersey medical school
Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin of The Star-Ledger cover the details emerging from a “whistle blower lawsuit” against the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. In an effort to make their cardiac surgery program seem robust to avoid being shut down, UMDNJ " paid at least nine local cardiologists in private practice salaries and stipends as high as $150,000 to become "clinical assistant professors" in an effort to increase the number of patients in the university's troubled heart surgery program." These were not physicians who were attending rounds or lecturing, instead they only served the purpose of referring patients to the program. Following the story, the state Senate launched a probe into the allegations. Jobs have already been cut due to the story and probe. "The state's medical university plans to fire two cardiologists who allegedly were given no-show faculty jobs...and plans to cut the salaries of nine other doctors, according to an internal memo from the university president."
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Quality cardiac care correlates with wealthier counties in US
A story by Robert Benincasa and Jennifer Brooks of the Gannett News Service shows that the best cardiac care is typically found in higher-income counties. "Using data provided by hospitals to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and covering the period of October 2004 through September 2005, GNS rated the nation's hospitals on heart care. The ratings show how often they gave standard treatments to heart attack and heart failure patients who were supposed to get them."

The data used for their analysis came from the US Department of Health and Human Services. It can be found here .
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CDC bonuses favor management, not scientists
Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed awards recieved by the employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show that the most frequent large cash awards and performance bonuses are recieved not by scientists, but mostly budget analysts, accountants, computer experts and other administrative managers. "The 72 CDC employees who received five or more awards of at least $2,500 from 2000 through July 21, primarily work in non-science jobs. Some got $30,000, $50,000 and in one case more than $140,000 in cumulative bonus cash beyond their salaries." As the CDC faces morale problems and the loss of key scientific leaders, the distribution awards provides evidence, critics say, that the Atlanta-based agency is becoming more focused on management and bureaucracy and less on its public health mission.
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Memorial Medical Center Investigation
A five-part series by Jeffrey Meitrodt of the Times-Picayune details the situation that unfolded at Memorial Medical Center following Hurricane Katrina, including allegations of the murder of 4 eldery patients at the hands of Dr. Anna Pou and 2 nurses. This series appears as part of the Times-Picayune's coverage of "Katrina: One Year Later."
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Enquirer wins records, shows health department let lead paint violations slide
Sharon Coolidge of The Cincinnati Enquirer won a two-year battle with the Cinncinnati Health Department to obtain records of properties cited for lead contamination violations.
Coolidge analyzed the city health records and found that "Cincinnati's Health Department is failng to force property owners to fix their buildings, leaving hundreds of children at risk for lead poisoning." The investigation revealed 300 open cases in which children had been poisoned. City officials pledged that property owners who refuse health department orders to clean up poisonous lead hazards will find themselves in court.

The original open records dispute went all the way to the Ohio Supreme Court, where the Enquirer won its case in March. The city originally had used HIPAA, a federal law designed to protect personal medical information, as a shield against turning over the records, arguing that the records could identify residents who had elevated lead levels in blood tests. The Supreme Court ruled that Ohio open records laws took precedence over HIPAA in this case.
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Disorganized transplant program costly to patients
In an 11-part series, Anna Werner of KPIX-San Francisco analyzed national transplant data and found serious questions about the kidney transplant program at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco. "Kaiser's transplant program was set up poorly and still today is disorganized" and many patients were left waiting. Numerous accusations of disorganization and delays had have affected patients' health. State regulators launched an investigation into Kaiser Permanente's kidney transplant program. The complete 11-part series began May 2.
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Abuse and neglect at Mo. mental health facilities
Carolyn Tuft and Joe Mahr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed thousands of paper and electronic records from the Department of Mental Health and found that "mentally retarded and mentally ill people in Missouri have been sexually assaulted, beaten, injured and left to die by abusive and neglectful caregivers in a system that for years has failed at every level to safeguard them." The investigation uncovered widespread mistreatment in 19 large state institutions and hundreds of smaller group homes supervised by the state across Missouri. There were 2,287 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect of residents since 2000. Of those, 665 resulted in injuries with 21 deaths.
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Pain drug can kill when taken as prescribed
Scott Finn and Tara Tuckwiller of The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette analyzed death certificates and found that "patients could die if they take the "usual adult dosage" on methadone's package insert — information that comes with the prescription and was approved by the federal government." Methadone, once given mostly to heroin addicts to ease their cravings, now is prescribed by more doctors to treat pain. It contributed to 2,992 deaths nationwide in 2003, up from 790 four years earlier. Despite knowing about methadone's dangers, federal officials have not strengthened the warnings most doctors and patients receive about methadone. The series includes information about how they reported the story.
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Lawyers market to potential silicosis victims
Mike Tolson of the Houston Chronicle examined lawsuits related to silicosis, an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to silica which is used by industry in dozens of ways. He found that "To attorneys who had earned millions from asbestos settlements, it represented the next potential windfall." The lawyers did not need sick people, only doctors who would issue diagnoses. In 2002, "one of the smallest states in the country went from 76 new silicosis suits to 10,642. By the end of 2004, the state's total topped 20,000." Tolson also writes about the role of radiologists in the lawsuits.
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Patients denied kidneys because of paperwork
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein of the Los Angeles Times used interviews, internal memos and transplant records to show that 25 Kaiser Permanente patients in Northern California were denied the chance for new kidneys that were nearly perfectly matched to them last year during the troubled start-up of the giant HMO's kidney transplant program in San Francisco. " The patients missed this opportunity because they were in effect stranded between two transplant programs." Kaiser never properly completed the paperwork to transfer the patients' cases to its program from UC-San Francisco Medical Center, which had been under contract to care for them until September 2004. At the same time, Kaiser would not authorize UC-San Francisco to continue accepting kidneys and transplanting them into Kaiser patients.
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Health agency ignores sexual misconduct complaints
Julia Sommerfeld and Michael J. Berens of The Seattle Times used state records to show that Seattle's Health Department has dismissed — without any investigation — 461 sexual-misconduct complaints against health-care professionals in the past decade, or nearly one-third of the 1,494 complaints received. "These complaints include counselors accused of molesting clients, nurses suspected of fondling patients and doctors turned in for demanding sex in exchange for treatment." As a result, health-care licenses were left unblemished, and possible victims were cast aside. And sexual predators went undetected, only to harm again. The three-day series looks at how the Health Department has credentialed more than 17,000 "registered counselors" who aren't required to have training or even a high school diploma but work with some of the most vulnerable clients. Registered counselors account for the largest number of sexual misconduct complaints in Washington health care.
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LA health officials slow to warn public
Joel Grover of KNBC-Los Angeles looked through hundreds of internal health department records to show that even though people were contracting the Hepatitis A virus at well-known restaurants and at a catered lunch, the Los Angeles health department didn't issue a public warning for months. The investigation revealed that officials first learned of a reported outbreak in early September in downtown LA, including workers at a soup kitchen and by early October, there was another outbreak with at least 16 more people getting sick after eating at another restaurant. "Weeks later, at least 18 more people are infected on a movie set after eating food from Silver Grill catering." For months, while the Hepatitis A virus was spreading through LA, the health department didn't issue a single public warning.
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Drug companies sponsored FDA staff travel
Alexander Cohen of The Center for Public Integrity analyzed FDA reports of privately sponsored trips taken by agency officials between October 1999 and September 2005 that cost more than $250 and found a loophole in the agency rules that has allowed its employees to receive more than $1.3 million in sponsored travel from groups closely tied to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. "The investigation found nonprofit associations that draw their members, their boards and even some of their funding from medical and pharmaceutical-related companies paying for the travel of hundreds of FDA employees." Among other findings, five organizations that were tied to FDA-regulated companies sponsored almost 1,000 trips, seventeen Drug Safety Oversight Board members took more than 160 privately-funded trips costing more than $220,000, and eleven Drug Safety Oversight Board members took 55 trips, costing roughly $75,000, sponsored by one or more of the five organizations.
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N.C. drinking water safety in doubt
In a three-part series, Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer shows the "state's regulation of drinking water reveals disregard for safety of private wells, weak regulation of public water systems and widespread problems with lead testing." The series includes an interactive map and a sidebar about how the state closely followed Stith's investigation and began responding to problems before the stories were published. "Stith, along with reporters Catherine Clabby and Wade Rawlins and database editor David Raynor, examined a stack of paper records 8 feet high and acquired databases from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the N.C. State Laboratory of Public Health and Wake County. The reporters also interviewed more than 100 people."
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Nev. rural emergency services face challenges
Reporters Steve Timko, Jason Hidalgo and Jim Sloan of the Reno Gazette-Journal examine rural emergency services in Nevada. Timko used data from the Department of Transportation's Fatal Accident Reporting System to identify Nevada's deadliest roads. Other stories in the series look at ambulance response times — finding they are the worst in the country &mdash and the aging equipment used by EMS crews. (Editor's note: For those interested in doing similar stories using FARS data, it is available to journalists through the IRE and NICAR Database Library.)
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Tenn. Medicaid pays for most expensive transportation
Nancy Amons of WSMV-Nashville investigated Tennessee's TennCare (Medicaid) rides program and found that millions of dollars may have been wasted. The investigation found the program assigning patient trips to the most expensive companies, even though that is against its own regulations. "Taxpayers have been overpaying by 40% or more for some trips simply because TennCare used companies that charged a high rate per mile instead of companies that charged less." For instance, Sunshine Transportation, one of the biggest providers in the state, was overlooked in favor of a competitor who charged 50 cents more per mile. The state is revamping the program and putting the brakes on a system they admit is out of control.
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County fails to monitor AIDS services program
Norberto Santana Jr. and Tony Saavedra of The Orange County Register used data crunching, document digging and old-fashioned gumshoe work to reveal how Orange County bungled its fledgling AIDS program for African-Americans. The investigation found what the county hadn't bothered to look for when hiring an AIDS service provider. " Pastor Aubrey Keys, the person they put in charge had a long history of personal financial troubles calling into question his ability to ably manage federal funds." The reporters audited the county's books and also found Keys, who had disappeared when the AIDS funding ran out. He was unrepentent, as was the county. The story uses a local example to show how AIDS funding nationwide is being put in jeopardy by rogue programs and regulators who are missing in action.
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Former narcotics officers sick, dying
Producer Nishi Gupta and reporter Debbie Dujanovic of KSL-Salt Lake City follow up on a series of reports investigating the rate of disease and death in former narcotics officers who were exposed to chemicals in the meth labs they raided. In a recent follow-up report they document a total of 84 officers exposed to chemicals inside meth labs who are sick or have died. After these stories aired, the Utah legislature passed a bill that funds a two-year study to look into a connection between meth labs and officer health. They "discovered 24 of the 42 are suffering with chronic health problems or have died. Ten under the age of 50 have or have had cancer. That's 177 times the rate of cancer for that age group." The initial series of reports, titled "Something Killing Cops," includes the initial piece, a look at what research groups and experts say, and a report on the financial stress these illnesses pose.
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Malpractice cases raise questions about hospital's care
Rob Perez of The Honolulu Advertiser investigated the Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii to show that a number of families are seeking compensation for what they allege was substandard care, in a series that looks at medical malpractice at Tripler. "The cases have generated questions about the overall quality of care provided at the landmark pink O'ahu hospital that serves as the major treatment facility for thousands of Hawai'i's military, their families, veterans and others. "The investigation found that the federal government has spent tens of millions of dollars over the past two decades to resolve about 170 cases among more than 600 filed in which patients or their families accused Tripler of shoddy care. The tab to taxpayers has totaled more than $60 million in court judgments, out-of-court settlements and resolution of medical malpractice claims. The government, for instance, has paid more than $14 million to resolve about 150 claims since 1985.
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NFL players dying young because of weight-related ailments
Thomas Hargrove of the Scripps Howard News Service tracked the deaths of 3,850 pro football players to show that athletes of the National Football League are dying young at an alarming rate and many of the players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight. The heaviest athletes are more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates. "Most of the 130 players born since 1955 who have died were among the heaviest athletes in sports history, according to the study. One-fifth died of heart diseases, and 77 were so overweight that doctors would have classified them as obese, the study found." Twenty years ago, it was rare for a player to weigh 300 pounds. But more than 500 players were listed at that weight or more on NFL training-camp rosters this summer.
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Nation's mine rescue system falling short
Ken Ward Jr. reports in the Charleston, W.Va., Sunday Gazette-Mail "the nation's miners face a mounting risk because of a rescue system that is growing ever short on personnel and is in major need of reforms." From 2000 to 2002, the number of safety teams approved by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration dropped by 10 percent. A team of reporters, including Tara Tuckwiller, Scott Finn, Eric Eyre and Dave Gustafson, have contributed to the series of stories. Other stories include a history of the safety violations at the Sago Mine, an analysis of data that indicates lightning strikes may have played a role in the accident, and a story questioning whether the mine had adequate state environmental permits.
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Mercury in seafood at unsafe levels
Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune published a three-part series on the presence of mercury in fish sold in supermarkets. “In one of the nation’s most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish, testing by the newspaper showed that a variety of popular seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules. The testing also showed that mercury is more pervasive in fish than what the government has told the public, making it difficult for consumers to avoid the problem, no matter where they shop.” In addition to conducting its own tests, the paper relied on documents and interviews for the series.
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Md. oversight of doctors failing public
Fred Schulte of The (Baltimore) Sun used state records to show that "Maryland's vow to safeguard patients has been undercut by breakdowns in the state system established to oversee doctors." In a three-part series, Schulte writes that more than 120 doctors have been the subject of four or five malpractice claims and that the disciplinary process for physicians often takes four years or more. "And secrecy policies conceal the names of doctors associated with tens of millions of dollars in injury claims."
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Children die in spite of Okla. abuse reports
Ziva Branstetter, Curtis Killman, Nicole Marshall, Omer Gillham and Ginnie Graham of the Tulsa World report in a three-part series on Oklahoma's failure to save at least 30 children who died from abuse and neglect in the past five years. The series detailed cases in which the Oklahoma Department of Human Services had prior reports of abuse and neglect involving children yet the children were not removed from the home and ended up dying from abuse and neglect. The paper also found the state had paid out at least $1 million during that time to settle lawsuits involving child welfare workers. Branstetter notes "Many states have laws allowing release of information following a child abuse death and this is what we used in Oklahoma to get the records."
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OSHA fines minimal, despite serious safety violations
Mike Casey of The Kansas City Star examined OSHA's inspection database for the metropolitan area of Kansas City, Mo., to show that low fines for workplace deaths or injuries are common even when OSHA cites employers for a serious violation. The investigation found that in 80 such fatal and injury accidents, half of the fines Kansas City area employers paid were $3,000 or less. "Regulators and OSHA lawyers reduced employers' initial fines by nearly 60 percent. Adjusted for inflation, fines last year averaged less than they were in 1972." The paper also found that in three accidents that killed five area workers, OSHA changed its most serious citations from willful violations to "unclassified" — removing the word "willful" in describing the violations — and then significantly reduced the fines. Nationwide, fines were even lower in the last decade. Half of the fines employers paid were $2,500 or less in fatal and injury accidents involving at least one serious violation. (Editor's Note: For those interested in pursuing similar stories, IRE and NICAR have databases from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration available for journalists.)
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Smoking bans not affecting businesses
Jason Hoppin and MaryJo Sylwester of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press analyzed Minnesota Department of Revenue data on taxable sales at establishments that sell alcohol to see if there was any evidence of widespread economic hardship due to smoking bans that were enacted in some areas of the Twin Cities on March 31. Because tax return information for individual businesses is not public, the reporters persuaded the Department of Revenue to provide summary data by ZIP code. They also created interactive maps using ArcIMS and ASP so readers could click on individual ZIP codes and see the data behind it.
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Most Tasered suspects unarmed
Richard D. Walton and Mark Nichols of The Indianapolis Star examined the use of Tasers by Marion County law enforcement officers. "At least 112 unarmed suspects were Tasered while fleeing IPD or sheriff's deputies. At least 87 people were shocked while handcuffed. And only one in 12 Tasered suspects was reported to have been armed." The review looked at 1,100 instances of Taser use during a 19-month period. "The Star's review also shows that blacks and Hispanics were shocked with Tasers at a far higher rate per number of residents than whites."
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'Guest workers' suffer from exploitation, neglect
A nine-month investigation by Tom Knudson and Hector Amezcua of The Sacramento Bee "has found pineros [Latino forest workers in the United States] are victims of employer exploitation, government neglect and a contracting system that insulates landowners — including the U.S. government — from responsibility." The report, "based on more than 150 interviews across Mexico, Guatemala and the United States and 5,000 pages of records unearthed through the Freedom of Information Act" shows responsibility for these "guest workers" is spread among several federal agencies and private contractors with no effective oversight. Part two shows the government has been aware of problems with the program but has failed to do anything to fix it. "First in 1980 and again in 1993, Congress expressed shock at the abuse of Latino forest workers in America's woods and the hypocrisy of undocumented workers doing government work." The third part of the series focuses on "The number one cause of death among pineros" — van accidents. "They are the byproducts of fatigue, poorly maintained vehicles, ineffective state and federal laws, inexperienced drivers and poverty-stricken workers hungry for jobs."
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Narcotics prescribed for inmates at high rates
Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle spent months detailing a drug distribution system to show that hundreds of thousands of powerful, addictive narcotics like morphine and oxycodone are being handed out to Washington prison inmates every year. Narcotics were being prescribed for almost every ailment including simple ones like toothaches, back pain or a sore toe. The story found that "prison doctors and physicians assistants too often write unneeded morphine and oxycodone prescriptions just to keep troublemakers at ease." KIRO obtained painkiller distribution records for Washington's eight biggest prisons after a long fight. They found that in three years, inmates were fed at least 329,000 Oxycodone pills, a minimum 85-thousand doses of morphine, and 800,000 doses of narcotics like Percocet and Hydrocodone, costing taxpayers millions in drug costs and distribution. Halsne's initial reports has prompted the "Washington Department of Corrections to call for a full scale review of its prescription drug network."
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Lack of standards plagues drug industry testing
David Evans, Michael Smith and Liz Willen of Bloomberg Markets report on the lack of strong regulation and standards that is plaguing the pharmaceutical industry in the testing of experimental substances on humans, resulting in the death and injury of scores of people. The world's largest drugmakers spend $14 billion each year to test experimental drugs on humans. The subjects, almost always poor or illegal immigrants desperate for money, are often injured or killed. "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the principal federal agency charged with policing the safety of human drug testing, has farmed out much of that responsibility to a network of private companies and groups called institutional review boards, or IRBs. " The investigation found that the FDA's own enforcement records portray a system of regulation so porous that it has allowed rogue clinicians — some of whom have phony credentials — to continue conducting human drug tests for years, sometimes for decades. The extensive report includes analysis charts, records and testimonials from some of the victims.
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Patient care neglected at Texas jail
Jennifer Autrey, with contributions from Bill Teeter, of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviewed documents of JPS Health Network, the organization that runs the county's public hospital and jail health-care system, to show that with the inmates' health care, nightmare medical experiences happened all too often. The investigation revealed that administrators overlooked numerous telltale signs of the medical crisis. "One teen-ager with a known heart defect was given Pepto-Bismol for chest pain, only to collapse and die from a split heart valve. " The jail doctors, who work for a physicians group through a contract with JPS, reported that they were hampered at their jobs. Also see a narrative derived from the paper trail.
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Generous deals for Wash. dentists
Michelle Nicolosi of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that Washington state's dental board has been slow to act and has cut generous deals with some of the state's most complained-about dentists. The P-I investigation found that dentists were allowed to continue working in Washington with little restriction long after they lost licenses in other states, or were caught running dangerously unsanitary clinics, or had repeatedly injured patients. Dental board members and staffers from other states reviewed actions taken by the Washington's dental board and agreed that Washington has given some dentists much more leeway than they deserve. "The board appears to discipline dentists in a way that doesn't adequately protect the patients of Washington state,"said dentist Peter Hartmann, a past president of the Dental Board of California. "With few exceptions, none of these people should be practicing dentistry on the unassuming public," said Dr. Robert Pattalochi, former president of the Wyoming Board of Dental Examiners.
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Sacramento nursing homes fail to meet minimum standards
Phillip Reese and Nancy Weaver Teichert of The Sacramento Bee used state inspection reports to show that " Sacramento nursing homes failed to meet minimum federal and state standards more often than facilities in the rest of the top 10 largest cities in California during the last two years". The leading complaints were quality-of-care, and "inspectors levied more fines for state citations against Sacramento homes than in any other city in the state during 2003 and 2004: $444,200 total, an average $19,300 per home."
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Hospitals not prepared for worst quake scenario
Duane W. Gang and David Olson of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise examined state, county and hospital emergency plans and found that Inland California counties were unprepared to provide medical services after a large earthquake. "A major temblor could leave multiple hospitals damaged and unable to treat their own patients, let alone the thousands of injured."
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Mo. tops in alcohol-related boating accidents
Bente Birkland and Catherine Rentz Pernot of the Columbia Missourian used data from the U.S. Coast Guard to determine that "between 2000 and 2004, Missouri led the nation in alcohol-related boating accidents." Among other findings: "The Lake of the Ozarks topped the list for boating accidents in Missouri, and it is the most dangerous body of water to drink and boat. Between 2000 and 2004, the lake had more alcohol-related accidents than anywhere else in the nation, including the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico ..." (Note: The Coast Guard's boating accident data and boat registration data is available to journalists from the IRE and NICAR Database Library.)
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Day cares fall below standards
Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register checked state child care facility inspection records to find that "at least one in 10 licensed centers — including several newer programs — failed to meet several of the state's minimum standard