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 "alternative medicine" ...
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Dubious Medicine
Alternative treatments have become very popular among autism patients and their families. Furthermore, physicians are promoting and using these treatments. This investigation reveals that these treatments are unproven and very risky to the children receiving the treatments. Also, in the investigation, they found a number of disappointing results from the few clinical trials, even though many families believe their children have benefited.
Tags: Autism; Alternative treatments; Physicians; Medicine; Children; Clinical trials; Disorder; Health
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Prescription for Disaster
This series examined the regulation of doctors in Arizona and found a number of loopholes that allow dangerous practitioners to diagnose Arizona residents and operate on them.
Tags: malpractice; Arizona; loopholes; patient neglect; homeopathic medical licensing; alternative medicine
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Science Fiction
Even after considerable money has been spent into research on various alternative medicines, there is still no evidence that they work. Still, taxpayers' money continues to flow towards research into these techniques, such as leech therapy, herbal medicine and reflexology.
Tags: alternative medicine; health; guru
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Hope Sells
"Starting with casual introductions at public alternative health fairs and culminating inside clinics in Tijuana, PrimeTime followed the process through which a cancer patient can get scammed into paying tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars for useless, ineffective treatments.." Investigators found United States - based companies that operate illegal clinics in Mexico to offer alternative cancer treatments. Investigators went to the clinics, consulted experts and concluded that they made outrageous claims that could cost cancer patients their lives. The story shut down one clinic.
Tags: cancer treatment; sting operation; alternative medicine; chemotherapy; satellite clinics; quack; medicine; Mexico border; breast cancer; National Cancer Institute; Federal Trade Commission; Baja California
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A Dying Wish
When Peggy Quinn founded Anam Chara, a personal-care boarding home for the elderly, she had only the best intentions of "making the last moments of life more meaningful for 'elders'." But her mission came "without a solid fund-raising plan or a realistic budget." Over the course of nine years, Anam Chara's boardmembers eventually turned against Quinn, who did not follow the budget guidelines, and shutdown the home. Julie Jargon reports on Colorado hospices and how Quinn's high hopes "made life hard on everyone else."
Tags: elderly; nursing homes; hospices; medical care; nursing; caregivers; alternative medicine
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The Outlaw Doctor
New Yorker magazine profiles Nicholas Gonzalez, a doctor who prescribes nutritional diets rather than chemotherapy, to fight cancer. Gonzalez did not begin his practice until he had investigated the research of William Donald Kelly, who started the nontoxic approach in the 1960's. While Gonzalez was skeptical of Kelly's therapy in the beginning, he began to see some truth in Kelly's findings and opened up his own office in 1987. 'I had no choice other than to face the fact that he had hundreds of patients with obviously terminal disease who were still alive five, ten and fifteen years later.' Now fifteen years later, critics remain questionable about Gonzalez's philosophy, stating he "lies to cancer patients, steals their money, and kills them." But as he puts out more information and encourages doctors to research his work, some doctors are agreeing that Gonzalez may be on the right tract.
Tags: doctors; cancer; patients; funding; research; American Cancer Society; Food and Drug Administration; National Institute of Health; National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; American Medical Association; Food-Drug and Cosmetic Act; Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act
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Cancer Machine
KTVB-TV finds "a local company diagnoses people with severe illnesses from a fax of their blood and saliva and then claims that a 'Sound Wave Machine' they manufacture will cure the patient's illness. We found that it is legal for them to manufacture and treat people with their machine, but it is not legal to diagnose people without a valid medical license (which they do not have)."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; medicine; medical reporting; alternative medicine; fraud
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The Healer
This article examines Hulda Clark's controversial medical treatments for which she faces criminal charges. Indiana and Brown County authorities say she is doing nothing more than "dazzling the gullible with outlandish claims, baseless prescriptions and useless gadgetry." But Clark believes she can cure HIV and cancer, which she writes about in her books, The Cure for All Cancers, The Cure for HIV/AIDS, etc.
Tags: alternative medicine; controversial medical treatments; Hulda Clark; Leonard
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Poisoned on the Job
CBC News reports "a story about transit workers in the small Alberta city of Medicine Hat who say they are sick because they were exposed to dangerous levels of methanol during a federally funded test project of the alternative fuel. Methyl alcohol is highly toxic, but the workers were told it was 'environmentally friendly.' A report from an internal investigation confirmed the workers were exposed to excessive levels of the chemical for years as they worked in clothes soaked with the fuel and breathed formaldehyde fumes produced by incomplete combustion. Today, the workers say they suffer from chemical sensitivities because of their exposure. Alberta's Workers' Compensation Board has rejected their claims...."
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Hope or Hype?
This four-part series examines the new trend of alternative medicine. It investigates the many different types of medicines used in this billion-dollar market.