The rich get richer while the poor get…slower? A new report by investigative journalist John Dunbar cracks open the numbers that are tightly held by the industry and found vast disparities in the quality and price of service based on how close to town. By comparing customer speed tests and surveys, he found that while folks in the low-income areas outside of the Washington Metropolitan Area pay slightly less for their broadband, those in the wealthier DC burbs are getting far more bandwidth for their buck. The poor are paying on average $31.17/Mbps while the rich are paying only $9.58. [More]
INVESTIGATIONS
Treasury Impotent To Penalize Wrongfully Denied Loan Mods
By 1.31.11
For all its tough talk, the Treasury can’t do jack to reign in lenders who are wrongfully denying home owners loan modifications. After seeing reports that some banks were basically modifying no loans at all, Treasury staffers huddled up to talk about withholding payments and levying fines on the baddest of the bunch. Unfortunately, they were told by their own lawyers that they don’t have that power. ProPublica reports, “staffers were walked back by Treasury lawyers, who said the government was only party to a commercial contract with servicers and not acting as their regulator.” [More]
Oregon Sues J&J For Secretly Recalling Motrin
By 1.14.11
Instead of issuing a recall, after Johnson and Johnson discovered its Motrin caplets were defective, they hired a contractor to go around the country buy up all the drugs. It was a “secret recall” that left the bad medicine on shelves for months for consumers to buy. Now the Oregon AG is suing J&J. The story broke when one of the guys hired to do the buying faxed regulators the instructions J&J gave him. [More]
Investigate Companies By Scraping Data Off The Web
By 1.5.11
In order to put together its awesome “Dollars for Docs” database that let readers search to see if their doctor had received pharma company payments ProPublica had to convert data from all sorts of Websites, PDFs, Excel docs and even Flash sites into one system. Not an easy task, but that kind of data wrasslin’ is key for modern investigative journalism, and ProPublica have put together tutorials to show you how you can do it too. [More]
Database Shows How Likely It Is You Will Die At A Dialysis Clinic
By 12.23.10
For the first time ever, patients can have access to previously secret government information about survival rates at specific dialysis clinics. ProPublica got the info through a Freedom of Information Act request and has put it together in an easily searchable database. This is important because some of these places, especially if they’re for-profit, have pretty bad track records at keeping their patients alive. [More]
Stanford U Investigates A Dozen Docs For Taking Pharma Payola
By 12.21.10
Twelve doctors at Stanford University Medical School are under investigation by the school’s disciplinary board after their names cropped up in a database of docs getting paid big bucks by pharmaceutical companies for speaking gigs, a violation of school policy. [More]
For-Profit Dialysis Centers Have Higher Mortality Rates, Up To 24%
By 12.9.10
If you’re a patient at the largest for-profit dialysis chain in America, you’re 19% more likely to end up dying than if you went to a non-profit chain. If you’re at the second-largest for-profit chain, you’re 24% more likely to die. These disturbing results were released in a new study in the Health Services Research journal. Guess if you’re going in for dialsysis, you’ll want to think carefully about your choice of treatment options and don’t forget to include a non-profit center in your selection process. [More]
See Exactly How Big Your Bank's Bailout Was
By 12.8.10
Just how big exactly was the bailout? And which banks got which kinds of loans? And how many did they get? It’s been hard to figure out, but now the Fed has released deep data on the over 21,000 different loans it made during the financial crisis—loans that were supposed to help encourage the banks to resume lending again. ProPublica has put all the numbers together into a searchable and filterable database so you check and see what kind of treasure chest your bank got. [More]
Drug Co's Pledge To Choose More Closely Docs They Pay
By 11.23.10
Several big pharma companies pledged to more tightly screen the doctors they pay to pimp their drugs to other medical professionals. The news comes after a major ProPublica investigation revealed the pill makers were paying princely sums to some docs with splotchy backgrounds. [More]
Ex-Ford Employee Admits Stealing Secrets Worth $50 Million
By 11.23.10
Espionage! A former Ford engineer charged with stealing trade secrets worth $50 million has pleaded guilty, and was apparently caught with the evidence on his laptop when he was arrested in Chicago in 2009. The man worked for Ford for 10 years before quitting the company to accept a position at a Ford competitor — Beijing Automotive. [More]
Convicted Fraudsters Still Have Real Estate Licenses
By 11.12.10
So, whaddya gotta do to lose a real estate license? A Sacramento Bee investigation uncovered licensed real estate brokers who were suspected or even convicted of fraud, some of them even convicted for committing mortgage fraud. [More]
Drug Co. Accused Of Bribing Doctors To Prescribe Eye Drug
By 11.10.10
NYT has uncovered a program of hush-hush rebates they say Genentech gives to doctors to encourage them to prescribe the pricier eye medication Lucentis over cheaper alternatives. [More]
Gas Station Chain Slapped With $30 Million Verdict For Shortchanging Drivers
By 11.10.10
A jury handed down a $30 million verdict agains gas station chain Sun Mart for leaving their customers a little light at the pump. The Texas Department of Agriculture found in an investigation that the chain was routinely shortchanging customers with improperly calibrated pumps. [More]
Why Does US Have Worst Fatality Rate From Kidney Dialysis?
By 11.9.10
Just about anyone diagnosed with kidney failure can get their kidney dialysis fully covered under Medicare. So why are taxpayers paying $20 billion a year for a program that lets 25% of the patients die within a year, the worst fatality rate of the first world? Why do only two chains run 2/3 of all clinics? And why won’t the government release important data that could improve the quality of care? An investigation in The Atlantic probes this issue in depth. [More]
Private Prisons Worked To Pass AZ Immigration Law
By 11.4.10
A new NPR investigation uncovers evidence that the controversial Arizona immigration law came to pass thanks in large part to an intense lobbying campaign by a group that stood to profit from its enactment: private prisons. [More]
TSA Officer Pretended To Find Cocaine In Flyers' Bags
By 11.3.10
The Smoking Gun has procured internal TSA memos about the security officer who was fired after pulling jokes on travelers by pretending to find cocaine in their luggage. [More]
Hidden Camera Catches Rogue Movers Holding Goods Hostage
By 10.29.10
Rogue movers. They quote you a great price for moving your stuff but once they show up to the destination, all of a sudden the price more than doubles. If you don’t pay up, they won’t let you have your stuff. CBS13 kept getting complaints about one company doing just that, so they set up a juicy hidden camera investigation to catch them in the act, and catch them they did… driving away with all their stuff! [More]
See The Show BP Would Rather Blot Out With Black Gook
By 10.26.10
Catch the FRONTLINE doc on the BP Gulf spill on PBS tonight. A newly released excerpt shows how the oil giant behaved in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, pushing aging infrastructure that was supposed to only last until 1987 for years past its limits. [More]
