Resource Center

Stories

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 "morphine" ...

  • Poppy Wars

    The government has spent millions on the Poppy Eradication Program in Afghanistan to destroy the addictive crop, but production is up. Tactics used to destroy the fields may be driving farmers into the arms of the Taliban.

    Tags: opium; heroin; opiate; morphine; DEA;

    By Armen Keteyian; Laura Strickler; Keith Summa

    CBS News

    2008

  • High on Prison Life

    The authors uncovered the excessive prescribing of very strong and highly addictive pain-killers in Washington State prisons.

    Tags: FOIA; drug abuse; prisons; Morphine; Oxycodone; inmates

    By Chris Halsne;Bill Benson;David Weed

    KIRO-TV (Seattle)

    2005

  • The Pain Train

    This investigation explores the abuse of prescription drugs paid for by taxpayers. Specifically, it found that people enrolled in TennCare (the state's version of Medicaid) would get free narcotics which they could then turn around and sell to addicts on the street. Not only do the taxpayers cover the initial expense of the drugs, but they also pay for the people who die from or overdose on prescription drugs.

    Tags: Medicaid; hospital; narcotics; Dilaudid; TennCare; Medicaid; addiction; morphine; drug-dealers; DEA; Computer Assisted Reporting; FOIA

    By Nancy Amons

    WSMV-TV (Nashville, Tenn.)

    2004

  • The New Addition

    Abuse of prescription narcotics in Las Vegas has risen and lead to the quadrupling of fatal overdoses since the decade before. "The trend reflects the extraordinarily high use of narcotic painkillers by Nevadans," that ranks them "fourth nationally in per person consumption of methadone, morphine and oxycodone."

    Tags: drugs; pain killers; overdose; Drug Enforcement Administration; Nevada;

    By Marshall Allen; Alex Richards

    Sun (Las Vegas, Nev.)

    2008

  • Oxcontin

    Responding to an outbreak in the drug's prominence, the Charlotte Observer did this four-day series on Oxycontin, a prescription synthetic morphine. Because it is a prescription drug, reporters were able to get records of pharmacies filling prescriptions and give readers detailed information about exactly how big the problem was, and how close-to-home it was. The stories weave complex statistics and human narratives to tell the story of how one drug drastically altered a region.

    Tags: Drugs; Oxycontin; prescription; abuse; rehabilitation

    By Debbie Cenziper;Cristina C. Breen;Ted Mellnik

    Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

    2002

  • Drug Pump's Deadly Trail

    "This project questions the standard conclusion that a great deal of blame falls on nursing errors - especially medication errors. In many cases, it's not the people. It's the machine. The Tallahassee Democrat shows that one of the most common hospital bedside devices - the drug pump - is so prone to human error that it invites mistake. What's worse, when misprogrammed, the pump defaults to a setting that, when used with morphine, is instantly lethal."

    Tags: nurses; medical devices; medicine; hospitals Abbott Laboratories

    By Paige St. John

    Democrat (Tallahassee, Fla.)

    2000

  • One Woman's HMO Story

    This is the story of one woman who needed routine hemorrhoid surgery after giving birth to her second child. HMO regulations required she be fitted with a morphine pump and sent home. A pump that the manufacturer says must be monitored for at least 24 hours. Less than 12 hours later she was dead. Within an hour she was throwing up from a morphine overdose. Several hours later, the nurse was called in, checked the pump and left. In less than 3 hours the woman was dead.

    Tags: TAPE

    By Jim Crane;Lisa Cola Gross;Darran Cavole

    WKMG-TV (Orlando

    1998

  • The big hurt

    Former TV reporter Mary Nissenson underwent a common face-lift and ended up with chronic, debilitating pain. Chicago Magazine profiles Nissenson, discussing her malpractice suit and the non-profit Triumph Over Pain Foundation she created.

    Tags: Morphine Plastic surgery Foresight

    By Craig Keller

    Chicago Magazine

    1998

  • No title (id: 494)

    Taunton (Mass.) Daily Gazette investigates a possible "mercy killing" of a woman through a deliberate overdose of morphine by three nurses, June - December 1980. mercy killing

    Tags: None

    By None

    Daily Gazette (Taunton, Mass.)

    1980