Health
Prescription drugs linked to seventy percent of Milwaukee overdoses
In an analysis of prescription drug deaths in the Milwaukee area, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Kertscher found of the 1,200 overdose deaths in an eight-year period, some 70% involved prescription drugs. Kertscher created the database himself by reviewing the medical examiner reports for each of the counties in question. Additionally, Kertscher reviewed hundreds of…
Read MoreAgencies in New Mexico impeded fraud and elder care investigations
An ongoing series in The New Mexico Independent explores allegations that state agencies interfered with fraud and elder abuse investigations. The Medicaid Fraud Division stated that Human Services Department and the Health Department had “withheld, ‘filtered’ and ‘sanitized’ information and documents requested by investigators, hindering numerous investigations.” Medicaid Fraud The series led to an attempt…
Read MoreTexas slow to penalize nursing homes where residents suffer
Through interviews with families and advocates and a review of thousands of pages of public records, the San Antonio Express-News reports that some of the city’s most frail and vulnerable residents are suffering at the hands of their caregivers in Texas nursing homes. Yet state officials allow troubled nursing homes to continue operating with little…
Read MoreEx-residents slow to be notified of toxic water on Marine base
Despite a 2007 law requiring the Marine Corps to notify former residents of Camp Lejeune, N.C. that they may have been exposed to contaminated water between 1957 and 1987, many have never been notified while others are just now finding out, according to a report by Barbara Barrett of McClatchy Newspapers. “The Marines have registered…
Read MoreDatabase of dangerous caregivers incomplete
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein of ProPublica reported on big gaps in a federal database that is supposed to alert hospitals to disciplinary actions against health care providers across the country. Over two decades ago, Congress “ordered up a national database allowing hospitals to check for disciplinary actions taken anywhere in the country against nurses,…
Read MoreClaims by China-based stem cell broker misleading
In a pair of reports, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Mark Johnson and Meg Kissinger examined the overblown medical claims and misleading marketing strategies of China-based Beike Biotechnology, one of many overseas operations marketing experimental stem cell treatments to desperate American families. The two interviewed dozens of the top doctors and scientists in their respective fields…
Read MoreMistakes in radiation treatments can be dire
A report by Walt Bogdanich of The New York Times looks at the risks associated with radiation treatments. Advancements in how radiation is administered have made it a more effective treatment. “The Times found that while this new technology allows doctors to more accurately attack tumors and reduce certain mistakes, its complexity has created new…
Read MoreMany children lack second dose of H1N1 flu vaccine
As many as 80% of children in some states who received a first dose of H1N1 vaccine haven’t received a booster dose that’s necessary to fully protect them from swine flu, according to a USA Today review of immunization registry data from 10 states. State health officials are worried growing public complacency could put these…
Read MoreWhen Drugs Stop Working series
A five day series by Martha Mendoza and Margie Mason of The Associated Press explores the global issue of drug resistance, looking at where and how it has emerged and what can be done. The series examines the overuse and misuse of drugs, leading to drug-resistant strains of diseases, highlighted by the first case in…
Read MoreLax regulators allow nurses to lose licenses in one state, keep them in others
Nurses with troubled records can cross state lines and work without restriction, an investigation by the nonprofit news organization ProPublica and The Los Angeles Times found. Using public databases and state disciplinary reports, reporters found hundreds of cases in which registered nurses held clear licenses in some states after they’d been sanctioned in others, often…
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