Health
“Shame of the State” uncovers assisted-living horrors in Pennsylvania
Ken Dilanian of The Philadelphia Inquirer found a long list of health and safety violations, a history of substandard care, and a system of state oversight that, until recently, often allowed deficient operators to violate safety rules with virtual impunity in the assisted-living homes of Philadelphia. Since 2000, at least 55 assisted-living residents have died…
Read MoreNail salon violations on the rise in Florida
Mc Nelly Torres of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that state inspectors issued 163 citations for violations at nail salons from June 2005 to July 2006, compared to 99 in 2003 to 2004. Torres examined three years of inspection data for salons that received citations from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and…
Read MoreA Hidden Shame
Alan Judd and Andy Miller of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presented the first in a series of reports on Georgia’s system of state psychiatric hospitals. Reporters used state vital records and death data, autopsy reports and claims filed against the state to flag 115 suspicious deaths among patients in state custody in the past five years.…
Read MoreDurham, N.C. fails to report lead detected in tap water
Michael Biesecker of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., reports that the city of Durham failed to inform state regulators that there was tainted drinking water in the area. A report submitted in October claimed that the city’s drinking water met federal standards despite the fact that several tests detected lead in the tap…
Read MoreToo little choice, too much ideology
The Center for Public Integrity’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists conducted a yearlong investigation into how rigid rules and restrictions of President Bush’s initiative to fight HIV/AIDS have affected countries struggling with the pandemic. The investigation found that restrictive funding and emphasis on abstinence have hindered the $15 billion effort. “Information accumulated by reporters in…
Read MoreMethadone series leads to FDA warning
Six months after the Charleston Gazette ran a series about methadone overdose deaths nationwide, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public health advisory and strenghtened the warnings on the package insert for methadone this week. The Gazette series revealed that the FDA-approved recommended dosage on methadone’s old package insert was wrong and potentially…
Read More“Fatal Food”
Thomas Hargrove of Scripps Howard News Service, along with contributions from Sruthi Kunnel and Lee Bowman, completed an investigation into food-borne illness outbreak reports made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Medical officials in Kentucky have already ordered reform’s to the state’s disease reporting process as a result of this investigation. Links to…
Read MoreCardiologist given no-show contracts at New Jersey medical school
Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin of The Star-Ledger cover the details emerging from a “whistle blower lawsuit” against the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. In an effort to make their cardiac surgery program seem robust to avoid being shut down, UMDNJ “ paid at least nine local cardiologists in private practice salaries…
Read MoreQuality cardiac care correlates with wealthier counties in US
A story by Robert Benincasa and Jennifer Brooks of the Gannett News Service shows that the best cardiac care is typically found in higher-income counties. “Using data provided by hospitals to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and covering the period of October 2004 through September 2005, GNS rated the nation’s hospitals on…
Read MoreCDC bonuses favor management, not scientists
Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed awards recieved by the employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show that the most frequent large cash awards and performance bonuses are recieved not by scientists, but mostly budget analysts, accountants, computer experts and other administrative managers. “The 72 CDC employees who received…
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