Marciela Sanchez leads the “Sexy Moms Club” in a Zumba workout based on bailoterapia, dance therapy, near Bakersfield. “They get rid of tiredness, relax their minds,” said Sanchez, one of 80 certified instructors, or “promotores.”Michael Fagans / The Bakersfield Californian LAMONT, Calif. – Like many women in the Central Valley, Elizabeth Sanchez spends her days […]
Health Care
Flaws in the U.S. health care system, federal health programs and with individual medical providers and patients
Posted inHealth Care
Car is king in street design, to detriment of pedestrians
Jose Flores Miguel, in a family photograph, crossed Clayton Road nearly every day to catch the bus or pick up groceries – as he was doing the evening he was killed in 2010.Courtesy of Flores’ family After Jose Flores Miguel, 65, was killed in 2010 crossing a busy Concord boulevard, city officials took action: They […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Calif. disability center staff weighs in on patient abuse claims
Patrick Leslie, a chaplain at the Sonoma Developmental Center, speaks about the facility’s need for good publicity at a public forum hosted by California Watch and the Sonoma Index-Tribune. Anna Vignet/California Watch SONOMA, Calif. – California’s largest full-time care center for the severely disabled needs more staff and accountability to correct major internal breakdowns that led […]
Don’t miss a story. Get our investigations delivered to your inbox.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Video: In Jennifer’s Room
A young developmentally disabled woman just wanted to be left alone. What happened next shattered a family.
Posted inHealth Care
Researchers pinpoint antibody critical to fighting flu
Researchers have discovered an antibody (in red) that neutralizes the flu (in blue).Wilson Lab/ Scripps Research Institute Sifting through thousands of proteins, researchers have identified an antibody that not only prevents the influenza virus from taking hold of its victims’ cells, but also cures already infected animals. And by examining the cell and virus in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health officials warn of lead in eye cosmetic
A girl wears kohl around her eyes. Similar products are known in other languages as tiro and surma. New York City Health Department After a Massachusetts doctor found high levels of lead in an infant’s blood last year, hospital staff found no hazards in common sources of the toxic metal – paint at the family’s home, […]
Posted inHealth Care
With rise in young painkiller abusers, officials see more heroin overdoses
With the steady rise of prescription drug abuse across the state, young pill addicts are succumbing in increasing numbers to another vice: heroin. For young people who otherwise might have been turned off by the needles and track marks associated with intravenous drug use, switching from abusing pills perceived as “clean” and “safe” to snorting […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Questions surround handling of Taser assaults on disabled patients
Someone using a stun gun like a cattle prod assaulted a dozen patients at the Sonoma Developmental Center last fall, inflicting painful thermal burns on their buttocks, arms, legs and backs. The center’s in-house police force, the Office of Protective Services, had a suspect from the start. An anonymous whistle-blower called a tip line in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Without federal recognition, tribe struggles to protect sacred sites
REDDING – Caleen Sisk, the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, wore a traditional basket hat – representing clear thinking – to her meeting with congressional candidate Jim Reed. Amid the din of wheezy coffee grinders at Westside Java & Caffe in Redding, Reed pleaded with Sisk: End her tribe’s longstanding battle […]
Posted inHealth Care
FBI, state target doctor for large prescriptions of painkillers
Dr. Edward Manougian, at his Richmond office, says he offers hope to the 240 struggling men and women under his care. Michael Short/Center for Investigative Reporting RICHMOND – One had been to jail and nursed a gunshot wound. Another had run away from home as a teenager and lost her children to foster care. A third […]