Health
Beef’s Raw Edges
“The Kansas City Star, in a yearlong investigation, found that the beef industry is increasingly relying on a mechanical process to tenderize meat, exposing Americans to higher risk of E. coli poisoning. The industry then resists labeling such products, leaving consumers in the dark. The result: Beef in America is plentiful and affordable, spun out in…
Read MoreDying For Relief: Reckless prescribing, patients endangered
According to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times, “By the time the medical board stopped Estiandan from prescribing, more than four years after it began investigating, eight of his patients had died of overdoses or related causes, according to coroners’ records. It was not an isolated case of futility by California’s medical regulators. The board…
Read MoreFake medical providers slip through Medicare loophole
According to an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “For years, officials at the agency that administers Medicare have known that fraudsters sign up as health care providers using UPS Store mailboxes and other post office box like addresses as their location. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says it lacks the technology to…
Read MoreDeadly bacteria may be unstoppable
“A USA TODAY review finds that deadly CRE bacteria are showing up in hospitals and other health care facilities across the country and there is virtually nothing to stop these “superbugs” at this point.”
Read MoreCalifornia police ignored, mishandled sex assaults reported by disabled
In three dozen cases of developmentally disabled patients accusing caretakers of rape and molestation during the past four years, police failed to complete even the simplest tasks associated with investigating the alleged crimes, according to a California Watch investigation.
Read MoreTobacco companies fighting anti-smoking laws with trade agreements, legal challenges
Fair Warning reports that as governments around the world adopt stringent rules to fight the public health burdens of smoking, tobacco companies are fighting back, trumping those laws by invoking long-standing trade agreements. Anti-smoking advocates told Fair Warning those efforts, and the cost and liability governments face in fighting them, will intimidate “all but the…
Read MoreColorado police departments failing to test rape kits
“A six-month investigation by KMGH-Denver found police departments across Colorado were failing to test hundreds of rape kits, critical evidence taken from a victim’s body after a sexual assault.” “While most departments said kits are rarely tested when the victim knows the suspect, one police department said these rape kits were prohibited from being tested…
Read MoreFlorida’s Vanishing Springs
“A century ago Florida’s gin-clear springs drew presidents and millionaires and tourists galore who sought to cure their ailments by bathing in the healing cascades. Now the springs tell the story of a hidden sickness, one that lies deep within the earth.”
Read MoreStudy spotlights high breast cancer risk for plastics workers
“Women employed in the automotive plastics industry were almost five times as likely to develop breast cancer, prior to menopause, as women in the control group. These workers may handle an array of carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. They include the hardening agent bisphenol A (BPA) — whose presence in polycarbonate water bottles and other products…
Read MoreThe Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer investigate inflated prices on cancer drugs
In a joint investigation, The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer of Raleigh found that large nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina are dramatically inflating prices on chemotherapy drugs at a time when they are cornering more of the market on cancer care. The newspapers found hospitals are routinely marking up prices on cancer drugs…
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