Investigations

Liquid Gold: Pain Doctors Soak Up Profits By Screening Urine For Drugs

With the nation’s opioid crisis, urine testing has become a booming business and is especially lucrative for doctors who operate their own labs, a Kaiser Health News investigation finds. And dozens of practitioners have earned “the lion’s share” of their Medicare income exclusively from urine drug screens.

Enriched By The Poor: California Health Insurers Make Billions Through Medicaid

Medicaid is rarely associated with getting rich. But some insurance companies are reaping spectacular profits off the taxpayer-funded program in California, even when the state finds their patient care is subpar.

‘No One Is Coming’: Hospice Patients Abandoned At Death’s Door

U.S. hospice agencies promise to be available around-the-clock to help patients dying in their homes. But a Kaiser Health News investigation shows that in an alarming number of cases, that promise is broken.

Nowhere To Go: Young People With Severe Autism Languish In Hospitals

Some teens and young adults are spending weeks or even months in retrofitted emergency rooms — even in mesh-covered tents — until specialized care can be found. ‘It’s a huge problem,’ one doctor says.

As Care Shifts From Hospital To Home, Guarding Against Infection Falls To Families

Despite a lack of medical training, relatives increasingly are assigned complex, risky medical tasks at home, such as maintaining catheters. If done incorrectly, blood clots, infections, even death can result.

St. Kitts Launches Probe Of Herpes Vaccine Tests On U.S. Patients

After a Kaiser Health News report on an offshore herpes vaccine trial that skirted FDA regulations, St. Kitts and Nevis officials claim they had no knowledge of the testing. An investigation is underway.

HHS Pick Price Made ‘Brazen’ Stock Trades While His Committee Was Under Scrutiny

With federal investigators bearing down on his committee, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., who is line to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, showed little restraint in investing in health companies.

Women Fear Drug They Used To Halt Puberty Led To Health Problems

Despite questions about Lupron’s lasting side effects and minimal study into its safety, the FDA sped approval of the drug to market. Years later, some young women are still living with the consequences.

Drugmakers Manipulate Orphan Drug Rules To Create Prized Monopolies

Drugmakers have brought almost 450 orphan drugs to market and collected rich incentives but nearly a third of those products aren’t new or were repurposed multiple times, an investigation shows.