Provide names of other journalists involved.
Dave Weed
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Nov 2-3, 2011
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Soldiers wives are taking advantage of an expanded, free medical perk– weight loss surgery- and it’s costing tax payers dearly. KIRO Team 7 Investigators force the Pentagon to admit it approved at least $363,000,000 in lap band, gastric bypass, and related bariatric surgeries in the past 10 years– with the Army spending 100 million of that just in the past three years. It appears some wives are also working the system to get approval for additional free tummy tucks and breast augmentation/reductions. Critics wonder if encouraging military spouses to use a treadmill might be a lot cheaper than having more than 20 thousand military dependents (and counting) go under the knife.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
FOIA Pentegon, Tri-Care, and each military branch. More than a year worth of fighting and tailoring requests. HIPPA and military coding issues were a huge issue.
Explain types of human sources used.
Very difficult to get military wives to speak. Technically, their active duty husbands were banned from speaking to the media without approval; their wives were free to do interviews. however, the reality was that everyone feared retaliation for speaking with us on the record.
Results:
material gathered by several members of congress for future hearings
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.
not yet
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Patience.