1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"LVH Stunned Patients" by Tim Darragh.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Dec. 10, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Based on a vague tip, Darragh, who was assigned the Business of Healthcare beat in August, began probing reports of a CMS investigation at Lehigh Valley Hospital. He found that the hospital was under fire for arming its security guards with Tasers. They used the weapons at least four times on patients. The hospital decided to disarm its security workers, but the news prompted an uproar among readers and health professionals.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Pennsylvania Department of Health investigation reports.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Hospital officials, state and federal agencies; we also spoke to other hospitals to see how their sercurity forces were armed. In subsequent follow-ups, we spoke with ethicists, researchers, doctors, nurses and others to go deeper on the issue of dealing with violence in hospital settings.
6. Results (if any).
N/a.
7. 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 corrections/clarifications. As mentioned, we did a follow up to examine the the ethical issues surrounding the problem of violence in hospitals. The community was very engaged in this story, writing several op-ed pieces and numerous letters.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
CMS' policies are not always clear. The policy prohibiting stun guns in hospitals was not explicit, so reporters will need CMS to interpret the policy. Reporters should survey their hospitals to see if their security forces are armed. They also should search police reports for accounts of violence at hospitals. The Taser incidents were not reported by any media until our story.