Health
San Francisco emergency response times lagging
Jim Doyle of The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the city’s emergency response system is failing to meet response goals. In February 2004, the city adopted a 6-1/2 minute standard for emergency response. Since then, at least 439 people have died while waiting for delayed emergency assistance. “The The Chronicle found that delayed emergency medical…
Read MoreUnnecessary transplants boon for clinics at great cost to patients
The three-day special report by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporters Andrew Conte and Luis Fabregas found that hundreds of patients each year undergo unnecessary liver transplants. The story cites national data for transplants at 127 hospitals across the nation between 2002 and 2006. The reporters looked at MELD scores—a government-approved standard used to determine how urgently a…
Read MorePsychiatric screening of military personel still lagging
The Hartford Courant‘s Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman continue their coverage of the U.S. military’s mental health policies with a report revealing that fewer than 1 percent of deploying combat troops received mental-health evaluations in 2007 despite a congressional order to improve screening, as revealed in pre-deployment data for nearly 350,000 soldiers sent to war.…
Read MoreProbe finds trace pharmecueticals in US drinking water
A five-month probe by Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza and Justin Pritchard, of the Associated Press, found traces of medications in the drinking water supplies of over 40 million Americans. While the testing found pharmaceuticals diluted to miniscule concentration levels, some scientists question the long-term effects of sustained exposure. The AP reports: “The situation is undoubtedly…
Read MoreWorst nursing homes collecting bonuses
Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register reports that some of the worst nursing homes in Iowa are collecting tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded bonuses that are supposed to reward quality care. The bonuses are paid through a little-known program that boosts the amount of Medicaid money received by homes that score well…
Read MoreLittle punishment for doctors who overprescribe
In a third installment of “Dangerous Doctors,” Gina Barton of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel showed how doctors who prescribe too many painkillers to patients in Wisconsin are rarely disciplined— even when patients are harmed. One man who overdosed had three doctors with troubled pasts, including a doctor who would later go to prison for selling…
Read More“Coincidence or Cluster?”
A six-part series by Kevin Craver of the Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, Ill.) looks into lawsuits facing two chemical companies after a cluster of brain cancer patients were discovered in a small town. Craver studied documents going back 30 years to investigate the site’s regulatory history, inspections, claims and counterclaims about pollutants and human exposure.…
Read MoreDesigned to treat addicts, ‘bupe fix’ gains popularity on streets
A three-part investigative series by The Baltimore Sun looks at the drug buprenorphine which is now being commonly prescribed to addicts to help them kick their addictions. It has shown great promise with opiate addictions by curbing withdrawal symptoms. But in plentiful supply, it is now showing up on the streets where abusers are using…
Read MoreMood-altering drugs prescribed frequently to foster kids
Gary Craig from the Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle investigated the growing use of mood-altering prescription drugs among youth in foster care and uncovered cases of children as young as one year old being prescribed psychotropic drugs. The investigation revealed many trends in the prescribing of these drugs, and disturbing statistics about their prevalence in…
Read MoreInsiders profit from FDA’s Fast Track
A seven-month investigation by The Plain Dealer‘s Joel Rutchick and Brie Zeltner into the FDA’s Fast Track drug review program has proven benefits to investors while doing little or nothing to speed up the availability of new medical treatments, compared to expedited review options that already existed before the drug industry lobbied to create Fast…
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