Health Care
Flaws in the U.S. health care system, federal health programs and with individual medical providers and patients
Prime hospital bills for malnutrition, but patient says she wasn’t treated
As far as Medicare knew, Darlene Courtois fell ill last year with kwashiorkor, a dangerous form of malnutrition usually seen among starving children d
Hospital owner’s charity may have avoided taxes
A foundation controlled by Dr. Prem Reddy, the driving force behind Southern California’s fast-growing Prime Healthcare Services hospital chain, may have avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal taxes through a questionable charitable gift, tax experts said.
Hospital chain, already under scrutiny, reports high malnutrition rates
Redding, near Mount Shasta, and Victorville, in the Mojave Desert, have little in common but an unusual statistic: In each city, a hospital has report
State doing little to track hospitals with severe earthquake safety risks
State authorities and hospital officials have discovered serious structural weaknesses at more than a dozen hospital buildings, but they have taken few steps to notify the public about the facilities nor have they required a detailed inventory of hundreds of other potentially dangerous sites. READ FULL STORY | DATA | FAQ | CALIFORNIA WATCH
State repeatedly cites national retailer for selling lead-tainted jewelry
As Americans consume more and more products from China and other countries with weaker consumer safety regulations, the case of Rainbow Apparel shows how persistent the problem of lead contamination can be and how, in turn, consumers may never know if their trinkets are safe. READ FULL STORY | MAP | VIDEO | CALIFORNIA WATCH
Hospital chain’s high infection rate leads to fraudulent billing concerns
A Southern California hospital chain known for its aggressive billing practices and cost-cutting is being investigated by state and federal authorities for an unusually high rate of life-threatening infections among its older patients. READ FULL STORY | DOCUMENTS | STORY IN L.A. TIMES