Health
CPS returns child; makes fatal mistake
“Case files from Sacramento County Child Protective Services, recently obtained by The Sacramento Bee show how a two-year old girl died. However, the records do not explain how the agency made the decision to return the child to care that led to her death.“ After countless reports of abuse and neglect, including 8 missed doctor’s…
Read MoreCA hospital has high rate of heart failure; may be linked to Medicare payments
“From 2008 through 2010, Chino Valley Medical Center in San Bernardino County claimed that 35.2 percent of its Medicare patients were suffering from acture heart failure. That’s six times the state average, according to a California Watch analysis of Medicare billing data. However, in 2006, before Medicare began making bonus payments to hospitals treating patients…
Read MoreEPA releases secret ‘watch list’ that includes chronic polluters
Two decades ago, Democrats and Republicans together sought to protect Americans from nearly 200 dangerous chemicals in the air they breathe. That goal remains unfulfilled. Today, hundreds of communities are still exposed to the pollutants, which can cause cancer, birth defects and other health issues. An ongoing investigation by the Center for Public Integrity, with…
Read MoreHaitian deportees jailed without cause; face serious health risks
“The United States has deported more than 250 Haitians since January knowing that one in two will be jailed without charges in facilities so filthy they pose life-threatening health risks. An investigation by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that the Obama administration has not followed its own policy of seeking alternatives to deportation…
Read MoreEPA adds seven Florida air polluters to Watch List
“The Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility is one of the nation’s largest waste-to-energy trash incinerators. The plant’s boilers consume 3,000 tons of garbage every day, creating saleable energy that allows the county facility to turn a $20 million annual profit.” However, in an investigation done by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, partnered with the…
Read MoreBoston area markets caught mislabeling fish
After a five-month Boston Globe investigation into the mislabeling of fish, it was found that many upscale restaurants, grocery stores and seafood markets advertise one type of fish but sell you another. The Globe hired a laboratory in Canada to conduct DNA testing on fish samples purchased from 134 shops across the Boston region. “Analyses…
Read MoreFor years, Dallas hospital has ranked low in patient safety
“Parkland Memorial Hospital, now under U.S. government monitoring because of systemic failures in patient care, has for years been one of the state’s worst-performing hospitals on a broad federal measure of patient safety, a Dallas Morning News analysis shows.” In an ongoing investigation, Dallas Morning News’ Ryan McNeil and Daniel Lathrop report on the disturbing…
Read MoreCA hospital chain’s bill to Medicare raises suspicion
“Prime Healthcare Services bills Medicare for a variety of unusual ailments – among them a brain disease and a condition causing eyes to bleed – that can generate lucrative payments to the chain. A California Watch analysis of newly released data shows that the chain’s Medicare billing for these disorders is far more aggressive than…
Read MoreRise in prescription drug overdose hitting unlikely community
At age 52, no one would think a mother and wife, with a roof over her head, would die from a drug overdose. However, after hurting her shoulder more than a decade ago, Myrtle Bailey died of a hydrocodone overdose. Unfortunately for her and many others, doctors are treating symptoms instead of actual problems. “Bailey…
Read MoreMajor increase in spending leads to concerns over health care costs
There’s no doubt that every city should have a children’s hospital, but what about three? Gilbert Gaul with Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with McClatchy, takes a hard look at why Orlando and other cities are building multiple children’s hospital, and who’s behind the push. The leading independent children’s hospitals are nonprofits, but you wouldn’t know…
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