Health
Memorial Medical Center Investigation
A five-part series by Jeffrey Meitrodt of the Times-Picayune details the situation that unfolded at Memorial Medical Center following Hurricane Katrina, including allegations of the murder of 4 eldery patients at the hands of Dr. Anna Pou and 2 nurses. This series appears as part of the Times-Picayune’s coverage of “Katrina: One Year Later.”
Read MoreEnquirer wins records, shows health department let lead paint violations slide
Sharon Coolidge of The Cincinnati Enquirer won a two-year battle with the Cinncinnati Health Department to obtain records of properties cited for lead contamination violations. Coolidge analyzed the city health records and found that “Cincinnati’s Health Department is failng to force property owners to fix their buildings, leaving hundreds of children at risk for lead…
Read MoreAbuse and neglect at Mo. mental health facilities
Carolyn Tuft and Joe Mahr of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed thousands of paper and electronic records from the Department of Mental Health and found that “mentally retarded and mentally ill people in Missouri have been sexually assaulted, beaten, injured and left to die by abusive and neglectful caregivers in a system that for years…
Read MorePain drug can kill when taken as prescribed
Scott Finn and Tara Tuckwiller of The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette analyzed death certificates and found that “patients could die if they take the “usual adult dosage” on methadone’s package insert — information that comes with the prescription and was approved by the federal government.” Methadone, once given mostly to heroin addicts to ease their cravings,…
Read MoreLawyers market to potential silicosis victims
Mike Tolson of the Houston Chronicle examined lawsuits related to silicosis, an occupational lung disease caused by exposure to silica which is used by industry in dozens of ways. He found that “To attorneys who had earned millions from asbestos settlements, it represented the next potential windfall.” The lawyers did not need sick people, only…
Read MorePatients denied kidneys because of paperwork
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein of the Los Angeles Times used interviews, internal memos and transplant records to show that 25 Kaiser Permanente patients in Northern California were denied the chance for new kidneys that were nearly perfectly matched to them last year during the troubled start-up of the giant HMO’s kidney transplant program in…
Read MoreHealth agency ignores sexual misconduct complaints
Julia Sommerfeld and Michael J. Berens of The Seattle Times used state records to show that Seattle’s Health Department has dismissed — without any investigation — 461 sexual-misconduct complaints against health-care professionals in the past decade, or nearly one-third of the 1,494 complaints received. “These complaints include counselors accused of molesting clients, nurses suspected of…
Read MoreDrug companies sponsored FDA staff travel
Alexander Cohen of The Center for Public Integrity analyzed FDA reports of privately sponsored trips taken by agency officials between October 1999 and September 2005 that cost more than $250 and found a loophole in the agency rules that has allowed its employees to receive more than $1.3 million in sponsored travel from groups closely…
Read MoreN.C. drinking water safety in doubt
In a three-part series, Pat Stith of The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer shows the “state’s regulation of drinking water reveals disregard for safety of private wells, weak regulation of public water systems and widespread problems with lead testing.” The series includes an interactive map and a sidebar about how the state closely followed Stith’s…
Read MoreNev. rural emergency services face challenges
Reporters Steve Timko, Jason Hidalgo and Jim Sloan of the Reno Gazette-Journal examine rural emergency services in Nevada. Timko used data from the Department of Transportation’s Fatal Accident Reporting System to identify Nevada’s deadliest roads. Other stories in the series look at ambulance response times — finding they are the worst in the country &mdash…
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