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 "physicians" ...
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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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C-HIT: Pharma Perks
The Affordable Care Act requires pharmaceutical companies to publicly report all payments to physicians by September 2013. Some drug companies have already compiled, but few consumers know that the information is available or how to access it. What this story did is disclose for the first time for CT consumers: 1) how many doctors in Connecticut are high-prescribers of certain psychotropic and pain medications, (108) 2) the cost of written prescriptions (hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases) 3) how many of these doctors received payments from drug companies (at least 43) 4) and the amounts that the doctors received from the drug companies ($30,000 - $99,000) It also reported that only 3 doctors on the high-prescribing drug list have been disciplined by the state Medical Examining Board.
Tags: Affordable Care Act; pharmacy; physicians; prescriptions; drugs; Medical Examining Board
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The Case of Dr. Konasiewicz
The investigation finds nearly 90 cases of alleged patient harm by a neurosurgeon, and shows that the hospital kept him on staff despite numerous warnings from other physicians about the quality of his care.
Tags: doctor; negligence; hospital; malpractice
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"Physicians on Pharma's Payroll: Educators or Marketers?"
This story focuses on doctors as industry speakers and their relationship with pharmaceutical companies. The pharmaceutical companies claim to choose speakers based on expertise, but further investigation shows that many of the hired physicians have "serious transgressions on their state records." They also tend to be "high prescribers" of the company's products.
Tags: pharmacy; prescriptions; Geodon; Pfizer; antipsychotic drugs; pharmaceutical companies; Department of Health; New York; Food and Drug Administration
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Dollars for Docs
The series investigates the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and the physicians they pay to serve as their speakers and consultants. ProPublica created a searchable database on its website that allows members of the public to see whether their doctors have been paid by one of seven pharmaceutical companies.
Tags: pharmaceutical companies; drugs; drug sales; widget; speakers
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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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Peddling Pills
"'Peddling Pills' investigated the relationship between doctors and the country's 100,000 pharmaceutical sale representatives, exploring how drug reps have continued to influence doctors' prescribing habits despite a much-publicized earlier crackdown on their sales tactics."
Tags: pharmaceutical sales; medicine; Big Pharma; ethics; physicians; doctors; drug representatives; drug rep; pharmaceutical marketing
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Dangerous Doctors
"The investigation found that the state Medical Examining Board's disciplinary process favors doctors over patients." Often the board was slow to follow complaints, and kept investigations secret.
Tags: doctors; medicine; medical examining board; complaints; investigations; review; license; physicians; patients; Department of regulation and Licensing
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Coronary: A True Story of Medicine Gone Awry
The book "investigated and documented the roles played by physicians, hospital administrators and corporate executives in a ten-year scheme to defraud Medicare and private insurers of tens of millions of dollars by performing unnecessary invasive tests and heart surgery" on patients.
Tags: medicine; hospitals; health care; health; Medicaid; surgery; fraud; Tenet Healthcare; federal investigation; Redding Medical Center;
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Indentured Doctors
Throughout the United States foreign doctors are being cheated out of wages, coerced into unfair contracts and being kept away from medically needy patients because their bosses are the ones sponsoring their visas. They work for medical residency and are allowed to live in cities and rural areas with shortage of physicians so long as they work full-time. The program was started by the government, but since its creation there has been little oversight to the abuse of the doctors.
Tags: work visa; immigration; J-1 doctors; Pahrump; pediatrician; health care;