This multi-media package revealed that more than 100,000 doctors, nurses, medical technicians and health care aides are abusing or dependent on prescription drugs in a given year, putting countless patients at risk for medical errors and mistreatment. The story examines the ways health care professionals steal or divert powerful painkillers, anti-anxiety medications and other pharmaceuticals from hospitals, pharmacies and patients to feed their own drug habits and addictions. And it finds that these care givers frequently practice under the influence of these drugs, including the performance of complex surgeries and other potentially dangerous procedures. Meticulously reported by staff writer Peter Eisler, the story uses an array of federal data and other records to document not only the scope of the drug problem among health care workers, but also its devastating consequences — from botched surgeries to deadly infections spread by addicted practitioners who inject themselves with needles that are destined for use on unwitting patients. Eisler also convinced doctors and nurses to share their stories of addiction, often for the first time, and explain how they were able to steal drugs and treat patients while impaired. These accounts are captured in both the written story and in powerful video segments that accompany the piece on line. The story’s findings are undisputed. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledge in the piece that there are significant gaps in the oversight systems that are meant to protect patients from doctors and other health care workers who practice under the influence of powerful painkillers and sedatives. And Eisler quotes a broad range of state regulators and law enforcement officials who confirm that drug use and diversion by health care workers is a largely hidden and profoundly dangerous threat to public health.
