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 "medical malpractice" ...
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StarTribune: Discipline Deferred
A six-month investigation by the Star Tribune found that the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, once considered a national leader in the regulation of licensed physicians, often doesn’t punish doctors whose mistakes harm patients or who demonstrate a pattern of substandard care. After analyzing information compiled by a national databank and reviewing thousands of pages of court and medical board records, the reporters found that the board, which regulates 20,000 physicians in the state, has been reluctant to punish some doctors who have harmed patients, including more than 100 doctors who were disciplined by other states and even doctors who lost privileges to practice at Minnesota hospitals. The investigation also showed that the board lags behind boards in other states in disclosing information to the public, including data on malpractice judgments or settlements. It also doesn’t disclose whether doctors have been disciplined by regulators in other states or lost their privileges to work in hospitals and other facilities for surgical mistakes and other problems.
Tags: Board of Medical Practice; physicians; doctors; punishment; patients
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Bad Medicine
"This series details the history of a Kansas City area neurosurgeon who has a long history of malpractice cases involving paralysis, disfigurement and deaths yet maintains a spotless Kansas medical license."
Tags: FOI; malpractice; Department of Health and Human Services
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"Hidden Mistakes"
In Connecticut, the "adverse-event" law is supposed to ensure that hospitals report medical accidents that cause harm or death to patients to the state Department of Public Health. The law was revised in 2004 and since then the number of reported adverse-event cases has dropped "dramatically," suggesting that the medical mishaps are not being shared with the public and the state.
Tags: Bridgeport Hospital; Connecticut Center for Patient Safety; Connecticut Department of Public Health; Wendy Furniss; malpractice; Hartford Hospital; Terri Schiavo; Institute of Medicine
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When Caregivers Harm
The investigation exposes failure of state nursing overseers to take corrective action against licensed caregivers accused of malpractice. Lack of competent oversight led impaired nurses to cause harm to patients through abuse, negligence and stealing patient medication for recreational use among other wrongdoings.
Tags: nurses; California; Nursing Board; harm; caregivers; Tracy Weber; malpractice; drugs; abuse; negligence; discipline;
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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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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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OHSU: Shielded by the Law
KATU examines the tort liability cap grated to Oregon Health and Science University, "one of the largest hospitals in Oregon." The cap "limits all malpractices awards to $200,000," which results in malpractice attorneys not taking on cases against the hospital.
Tags: health care; patients; malpractice; law; lawyer; torts; liability; medical malpractice; doctors; hospitals; Oregon; Oregon Health and Science University
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Medical Secrets
Dr. Richard Austin is a Toronto-area gynecologist who has gained a reputation for botching surgeries. This story happened when 14 women "claimed they suffered emotional and physical harm after going under his surgical knife." After the initial story was published, more women came forward to tell about how they had also suffered injuries, often to their bowels, during procedures such as hysterectomies.
Tags: Medical malpractice; surgery; surgical injuries; hysterectomy; complications from surgery
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Taking the Cuffs off at Carswell
Fort Worth Weekly reporter Betty Brink has been covering medical and sexual abuse of female inmates at Carswell Federal Medical Center, in Texas, since 1999. As a result of her coverage, and his own investigation, a retired judge, Ross Sears is asking for a Congressional investihgation into the deadly conditions at "the only prison hospital in the country for mentally or chronicallly ill or dying women who have been convicted of a federal crime."
Tags: medical negligence; sexual abuse; Carswell Federal Mediacal Center; medical records; Bureau of Prisons; FOI requests; U.S. Office of Special Counsel; Dr. Roger Guthrie; Ross Sears; retaliation; compassionate release; John Peter Smith Hospital; Tarrant County Medical Examiner; autopsies; prison deaths; women inmates; femaile prisoners; Baylor Regional Transplant Institute; Huguley Memorial Medical Center; brain damage; whistleblower complaints; medical malpractice; sentinel event; rape;
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Masking Malpractice Cases
A three part series revealing that Maryland regulators have overlooked many doctors with unusually high numbers of medical malpractice claims.
Tags: malpractice; lawsuit; injured patient; doctor;