- courier-journal.com/interactive/article/20111218/DATA/111220003/Database-Prescription-drug-database
- courier-journal.com/interactive/article/20111016/EXTRAS15/111014011/Interactive-An-addict-s-journey-from-Kentucky-Florida
- courier-journal.com/article/20111016/EXTRAS15/310160040/Ex-drug-trafficker-ran-7-pain-clinics-Florida
Provide names of other journalists involved.
Laura Ungar R. G. Dunlop Emily Hagedorn
List date(s) this work was published or aired.
1/30/11, 1/31/11, 10/16/11, 10/17/11, 12/18/11, 12/20/11
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Synopsis: Reporters Laura Ungar, Emily Hagedorn and R.G. Dunlop took a year-long look at the scourge of prescription drug abuse in Kentucky, which has one of the nation’s worst problems. In three installments, they looked at the growing problem in Kentucky and the lack of funding to fight it; the pain-pill pipeline from Florida to Kentucky that supplies most of Kentucky’s pills; and the failure of the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure to keep some rogue doctors from inappropriately prescribing narcotics. The stories showed that prescription drug abuse is tearing apart many Appalachian communities, that efforts in Florida to curb the pipeline have not stopped the flow of pills and that more needs to be done to keep rogue doctors from operating in Kentucky.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Types of documents, etc. For the first installment, reporters crunched U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data to examine overdose death rates by state and by county. This involved getting help from epidemiologists to cull a huge list of death codes, then applying these codes to CDC data. The reporters also examined pill-related lawsuits, state health data and budget documents for key agencies involved in the battle against prescription drug abuse. For the second installment, Ungar examined Florida state health records, lawsuits and other legal documents, and arrest records and law enforcement data in Kentucky and Florida. She also looked at Drug Enforcement Administration and drug company pill distribution data and state reports on prescription drug abuse. For the third installment, Dunlop examined disciplinary records on doctors; law enforcement records; lawsuits; state data on Medicaid prescribers; and reports on prescription drug abuse. The state Medicaid data required an open-records request, which yielded important information on high-prescribing doctors.
Explain types of human sources used.
Human sources: For each installment, the reporters traveled to hot spots such as Eastern Kentucky and South Florida to speak with recovering and current prescription drug addicts; families affected by the problem; business and community leaders affected; law enforcement, criminal justice and government officials; doctors, pain clinic owners and pain clinic employees and former employees; and health care experts.
Results:
Results: After the first installment ran, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell invited U.S. “drug czar” Gil Kerlikowske to Kentucky, and he shed light on the problem nationally. Other Kentucky officials cited the series when lobbying for anti-drug abuse measures such as a national grant program to help states pay for prescription monitoring. Kentucky’s problem was also mentioned in Congressional committee hearings on the subject. The lede of the first story, which said drug deaths have exceeded car crashes, has been used at all levels of government when describing Kentucky’s problem. Meanwhile, Gov. Steve Beshear has made prescription drug abuse a top priority this legislative session, calling for more money for prescription monitoring in his state budget and helping craft a wide-ranging bill. Three other bills to regulate pain clinics are also before the General Assembly. Also, the videos created as part of the newspaper’s project were used at a statewide summit on the problem at the University of Kentucky that attracted 300 people.
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.
None.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Advice: The most important piece of advice is to go to the hard-hit areas to see the problem first-hand. The trips to Eastern Kentucky and Florida brought home the seriousness of the issue, clearly showing how prescription drug abuse is destroying communities and families. While some of the interactions with pain clinic operators were contentious and even dangerous, it was very instructive to see first-hand how these places operate. Also, it’s important to talk to all types of people affected by the problem, from addicts to doctors to pain clinic owners and police.