Provide names of other journalists involved.
Photography: Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Editor: Greg Borowski is senior editor for projects and investigations at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
26-Jul-11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Wisconsin’s rate of seriously disciplining physicians ranked third-lowest in the country in 2010. But its regulation of alternative care providers is even more lax. The state oversees 132 credential types, but not homeopaths or naturopaths. Karon explored this problem through the story of Barbara May, who developed severe neurological damage requiring emergency surgery after she paid an “intuitive healer” named Sik Kin Wu hundreds of dollars to adjust her neck. Many months after surgery, she still used a walker and was unable to work. May did not know when she sought Wu’s services that she had cervical stenosis (narrowing of her spinal canal), a serious condition that can be aggravated by cervical adjustment. She later sent a formal complaint about Wu to the state Department of Safety and Professional Services. But despite the fact that Wu’s practices violated several state laws, the department took no action. A department spokesman told Karon that the department had no record of receiving May’s complaint. He also admitted that the department sometimes loses complaints and that investigations can take months. Further reporting revealed that although the department received complaints about 1,338 health care providers in 2010, it investigated just half of them and suspended or revoked only 27 licenses. To our knowledge, this article is the first in-depth investigation of Wisconsin’s poor oversight of alternative care providers.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Public record requests were not required. Karon reviewed more than 100 pages of Barbara May’s medical records (including neurological exams, diagnoses and her surgical reports) and treatment notes from Wu. She also reviewed clinical studies on alternative health practices, information on the prevalence of these practices from the National Institutes of Health, and the Mayo Clinic’s excellent web pages on spinal adjustment.
Explain types of human sources used.
Karon interviewed Barbara May (the patient with cervical stenosis) and Sik Kin Wu (the alternative healer) a total of four times. She also interviewed 13 of Wu’s other clients; officials at the state department responsible for regulating health care providers; a Stanford University expert on alternative health care; the president of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association; the senior vice president of the Wisconsin Medical Society; and Wu’s daughter, a massage therapist named Judy Wu.
Results:
Last August, a high-level department official told Karon that he had received Barbara May’s second formal complaint about Wu and that the department would follow up. As of February 1, there was no online record of disciplinary action against Wu. However, department investigations can take months.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
This project took nearly a month of full-time reporting and writing. Karon, a master’s student in journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is also a veterinarian by training. Her expertise enabled her to interpret May’s detailed medical and surgical records. To verify May’s account of her symptoms and their timing, Karon obtained her complete medical and surgical records directly from the hospital. Doing so enbaled her to confirm that May’s early symptoms were consistent with aggravated cervical stenosis and that she developed these symptoms only after Wu began adjusting her neck. To gain May’s trust, Karon met with her several times alone in May’s home, saving the most sensitive questions (about vaginal and rectal penetration) for last and letting her speak without interrupting her. Karon approached Wu by telling him that she wanted to write about alternative care providers and to focus on him. He was very forthcoming, but she saved the most difficult questions — such as whether he knew that it was against the law to withhold medical records — for last, when the photographer was present who could also serve as a witness. Department officials initially balked at providing data on their limited oversight of health care providers. Although such information is public record, Karon avoided the expense and delay of an open records request by contacting the department’s legal counsel directly. He cooperated and pressured department spokesmen into providing the required information.