Health
Regulators drop toxic chemical warning after plant lawyer complains
Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette used the federal Freedom of Information Act to obtain records showing that a plan by West Virginia environmental regulators to warn residents of Wood County about the spread of the toxic chemical C8 from DuPont Co.’s Parkersburg plant was killed after complaints from a DuPont lawyer. The paper…
Read MoreDrug lobby spends millions to influence legislation
A team from The Center for Public Integrity reports on spending by the pharmaceutical and health products industry on lobbyists. “The drug industry’s huge investments in Washington — though meager compared to the profits they make — have paid off handsomely, resulting in a series of favorable laws on Capitol Hill and tens of billions…
Read MoreDrug industry’s influence drives doctors’ diagnoses
Susan Kelleher and Duff Wilson interviewed more than 160 doctors, patients, medical analysts, regulatory officials and other experts for a Seattle Times series about the health care industry and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. “Suddenly Sick” reveals that perviously healthy people go to the doctor only to be diagnosed with an illness because the…
Read MoreData shows heart attack death numbers declining
Stephen Smith of The Boston Globe used state data to show that “deaths from heart attacks in Massachusetts dropped by 24 percent in eight years,” a decline doctors attributed to increased usage of angioplasty and aspirin. “Nationwide, the number of people succumbing to heart attacks has also decreased, although at a somewhat slower pace than…
Read MoreStudy finds high levels of pollutants in Calif. family
Douglas Fischer of Alameda Newspaper Group spent nine months investigating chemical pollutants in a family that “lives at one end of the consumer-chemicals spectrum — they eat organic, avoid common household cleaners and pesticides, don’t have wall-to-wall carpets or large new appliances.” The paper consulted a commercial research ethics board, responsible for protecting study participants’…
Read MoreAccident-victim law saves lives
Suzanne Hoholik of The Columbus Dispatch used state data to show that a 2002 Ohio law intended to direct accident victims to trauma hospitals was working as intended: “More injured people are being taken to trauma centers, and fewer are dying in small, rural hospitals. Trauma experts believe as many as 900 lives a year…
Read MoreMeth crisis moves to Mexico
Steve Suo of The Oregonian investigates America’s methamphetamine crisis, now rooted in Mexico, where drug cartels are illicitly obtaining tons of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient needed to make the potent stimulant. “Mexico’s imports of the cold medicine have vaulted from 66 tons to 224 tons in the past five years, customs records show. That’s roughly…
Read MoreMercury levels in fish may mean more advisories
Mike Dunne of The (Baton Rouge, La.) Advocate uses state date on fish containing “action levels” of mercury to “show that about 19 lakes and streams in Louisiana may need advisories to warn pregnant women and children under 7 to limit their fish consumption.” Last year the state offered to test residents who ate fish…
Read MoreMany to blame for social programs mess
Karen Augé of The Denver Post used state records to show that “nearly every agency, contractor and department that touched the state’s new $200 million computer benefits system in some way contributed to its debacle.” Colorado’s new system was a year late when it came online last fall, and the contractor and state officials have…
Read MoreOfficers’ diseases, deaths linked to meth exposure
Producer Nishi Gupta and reporter Debbie Dujanovic of KSL-Salt Lake City investigate the rate of disease and death in former narcotics officers who were exposed to chemicals in the meth labs they once were raiding. They found a high risk of cancers, auto-immune diseases and other illnesses in comparison to national statistics. They “discovered 24…
Read More