What We Found Using Nursing Home Inspect

Aug. 14, 2012, 8:53 a.m.

We’ve made it easy to search nearly 118,000 deficiencies found during government inspections at 14,565 nursing homes nationwide.

Why Can’t Medicine Seem to Fix Simple Mistakes?

July 20, 2012, 10:37 a.m.

The death of 12-year-old Rory Staunton from septic shock prompted NYU’s Langone Medical Center to revamp its emergency room procedures to address a startling lapse. History shows that the profession is unlikely to learn from this mistake.

Mystery After the Health Care Ruling: Which States Will Refuse Medicaid Expansion?

June 28, 2012, 11:33 a.m.

The Supreme Court ruling allows states to decline the Medicaid expansion included in the Affordable Care Act without losing federal money for their existing Medicaid programs. If the 26 states that challenged the law opt out, an estimated 8.5 million fewer people would be covered by Medicaid.

Patient Died at New York VA Hospital After Alarm Was Ignored

May 15, 2012, 2:06 p.m.

The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General again found problems with the care provided by nurses in a cardiac monitoring unit at the VA hospital in Manhattan.

American Pain Foundation Shuts Down as Senators Launch Investigation of Prescription Narcotics

May 8, 2012, 8:57 p.m.

Sens. Baucus and Grassley demand evidence of financial support from the drug industry to nonprofit groups that advocate use of opioid painkillers, including the newly defunct American Pain Foundation.

Senate Committee Investigates Marketing of Painkillers

May 8, 2012, 8:57 p.m.

VA Nurses Scrutinized After Patient Deaths in Two States

April 30, 2012, 12:19 p.m.

A review of records at 29 Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found that some facilities didn’t keep proper track of their nurses’ skills or competency.

Allergan Erases Doctor Payment Records

Feb. 1, 2012, 11:03 a.m.

You can still find some older Allergan payments in ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database, along with data from 11 other drug companies.

Senate Watchdog Targets High-Prescribing Medicaid Docs

Jan. 24, 2012, 2:04 p.m.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wants to know why an Ohio doctor wrote 54 prescriptions per weekday for the antipsychotic Abilify, while the biggest prescriber of Seroquel wrote an average nine prescriptions per hour.

Drug Companies Reduce Payments to Doctors as Scrutiny Mounts

Jan. 3, 2012, 2:55 p.m.

Continued reporting on the influence of pharmaceutical money on medicine spurred tighter rules at medical schools across the nation.

The Champion of Painkillers

Dec. 23, 2011, 2:15 p.m.

The annual death toll from overdoses of painkillers has reached almost 15,000, prompting the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to term it an “epidemic.” But the American Pain Foundation continues to claim the risks are overblown. The advocacy group’s biggest supporter? The drug industry.

Two Leaders in Pain Treatment Have Long Ties to Drug Industry

Dec. 23, 2011, 2:14 p.m.

American Pain Foundation board members Scott Fishman and Perry Fine, both physicians, have lectured and authored publications funded by makers of narcotic painkillers. They say the support doesn’t bias them.

Florida Sanctions Top Medicaid Prescribers — But Only After A Shove

Nov. 17, 2011, 9:03 a.m.

Medicaid programs have long had evidence that a few physicians prescribed risky drugs in excess, but it wasn’t until Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded to know the top prescribers that states began to investigate.

Feds File Massive Fraud Case Against Allied Home Mortgage

Nov. 1, 2011, 4:51 p.m.

Houston-based Allied and its founder, Jim Hodge, were the subject of a July 2010 investigation by ProPublica detailing alleged misconduct in 18 states. The government suspended Allied from issuing government-backed mortgages, saying nearly a third of its FHA loans between 2001 and 2010 defaulted.

Doctors Avoid Penalties in Suits Against Medical Firms

Sept. 16, 2011, 1:23 p.m.

At least 15 drug and medical-device companies have paid $6.5 billion since 2008 to settle accusations of marketing fraud or kickbacks, but none of the more than 75 doctors named as participants were sanctioned.

Troubled Health-Care Staffing Chain Settles With Government for $150 Million

Sept. 12, 2011, 4:03 p.m.

Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc. had been accused of submitting false bills to federal and state health programs. An earlier ProPublica investigation found that the company had hired several nurses despite a history of problems.

News Reports Cite Drop in Physician Speaking Fees

Sept. 8, 2011, 12:18 p.m.

Regional newspapers that analyzed ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs data say drug company payments to physician speakers have declined in their states, suggesting that new restrictions and publicity are making an impact.

Patients Deserve to Know What Drug Companies Pay Their Doctor

Sept. 7, 2011, 8 p.m.

ProPublica’s newly updated Dollars for Docs database offers a glimpse of what patients can expect in 2013, when all drug and medical-device companies must report to the federal government what they pay doctors to help market their products.

Doctors Dine on Drug Companies’ Dime

Sept. 7, 2011, 4:32 p.m.

Hundreds of thousands of doctors have accepted free meals from pharmaceutical companies that invite them to scientific or educational sessions. At least 20 physicians accepted more than $2,000 worth of meals from one company last year, ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database shows.