Controversies

Nation’s Worst Cancer Doctor Pleads Guilty to Medicare Fraud

The one-time respected oncologist was caught lying to patients about their health, telling some who did not have cancer that they did in order to give them unnecessary chemotherapy treatment just so he could bill Medicare for the procedure. In other cases, Fata lied to those with cancer that they were getting better, when in fact their tumors were growing. All the while, the Lebanese-born doctor ordered unusually large and dangerous amounts of chemo for these individuals. read more

FBI’s Facial Recognition Program Goes Operational

The database used by the system has primarily data on known criminals, but information on others, including government employees and contractors, is also there. That increases the possibility of an innocent person being tagged as a suspect because of an error. The system may also be able to access other databases, such as DMV and Department of State records, which would increase the chances of a law-abiding citizen being caught up in a criminal investigation. read more

Reagan-Appointed Judge Cites Hobby Lobby Ruling to Decide Polygamist Sect Doesn’t Have to Testify about Child Labor Violations

U.S. District Judge David Sam in Utah has ruled that a member of a polygamist group can cite religious freedom as a reason to not give testimony in a criminal probe. Sam, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan, ruled Steed could refuse to talk about FLDS business based on his religious oath to not discuss internal matters. read more

U.S. Prisoner Population on the Rise Again after 3-Year Decline

The number of federal prisoners actually decreased by 1,900, the first census drop in federal institutions since 1980. That number was outweighed by an increase in the population of state prisons. • The states with the highest imprisonment rate were Louisiana (1,114 per 100,000 population), Mississippi (918 per 100,000) and Oklahoma (872 per 100,000). read more

Deadly Form of Black Lung Rises to 40-Year High

Researchers say cases of advanced black lung (progressive massive fibrosis) have soared in number, reaching levels not seen since the early 1970s. The deadly version of the disease had all but disappeared by the dawn of the new millennium. Wes Addington, deputy director at the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, told The Louisville Courier-Journal. “We have broken our promise to protect our miners.” read more

Fewer Workers Die on the Job…Except Latinos

First, the good news: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Thursday that there were 4,405 fatal work injuries in 2013. That’s down from the previous year’s mark of 4,628 deaths. But the news was bad for Hispanic workers. In 2012, 708 Latinos died on the job. By the following year, the total jumped to 797. read more

Two Insecticides Lead to Drastic Increase in Polluted Urban Streams

Fipronil, which is used to kill ants and cockroaches, and diclorvos, applied to kill insects attacking fruit and vegetable crops and used in “no-pest strips” were the primary reason that 90% of urban streams were in violation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aquatic-life standard from 2002 to 2011. In the preceding decade, the corresponding percentage of polluted urban streams was 53%. read more

14-Year-Old Rape Kit, Finally Tested, Leads to Arrest of Ex-Cop

A former Memphis police officer has been charged in a rape that occurred in 2000. Bridges Randle, who has been living in Atlanta under an assumed name, was arrested after a kit that had gone untested for 14 years was finally put into the national database. The Department of Justice estimates that nationwide there are about 100,000 untested rape kits, as well as evidence that has not yet been sent to labs for analysis. read more

Bush Administration Threatened to Fine Yahoo $250,000 a Day if it didn’t Cooperate with Spy Program

Newly released court records show Yahoo agreed to comply with demands from the National Security Agency (NSA) to provide copies of customers’ emails and other online communications. Its actions, however, were prompted by the threat of being fined $250,000 a day if the company did not play ball with the NSA’s PRISM program that sought to mine information from Internet providers. read more

9 Losing Candidates in Tennessee Sue County Officials, Alleging Hacked Voting Machines

The suit claims that the Diebold voting machines have “incurable deficiencies…including an inability to secure it from even amateur level taint by fraudulent programming.” It also points out that the Diebold system that was employed in the contested election is used nowhere in the United States except for two counties in Tennessee, one of which is Shelby. read more

Women Account for only 23% of House of Representatives Committee Witnesses

The Sunlight Foundation, an independent watchdog, found of the 5,575 people who have appeared or are scheduled to appear before House committees over the past two years, only 23% are women. The House Committee on Agriculture had the lowest rate (13%), while the highest belonged to the Committee on Education and the Workforce (40%). For the record, women comprise 51% of the U.S. population. read more

Former U.S. Ambassador Investigated for Money Laundering

“The money came from oil and building contracts in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates that allegedly violated U.S. laws, U.S. investigators told their Austrian counterparts,” Bloomberg’s Jonathan Tirone wrote. The investigation came to light when an Austrian blogger found documents in a trash bin that included a Justice Department document pertaining to the Khalilzad inquiry. read more

Energy Company Told Employees Toxic Coal Waste was Safe to Eat

The employees say they were exposed to toxic coal waste from the Gavin Plant Residual Waste Landfill in Cheshire in Gallia County. Further, the defendants allegedly assured their employees that the waste was harmless and even safe enough to eat—despite the presence of arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, lead, and thalium. read more

African-Americans Far more Likely to be Injured by Police than Whites

From 2001 to 2012, “black people suffered over five times as many nonfatal injuries per capita from law enforcement as white people did cumulatively,” Damian Ortellado wrote for the Sunlight Foundation. For black men, the injury rate per 100,000 people came out to 117, while for white men it was 21 per 100,000. In fact, white men had fewer total injuries than black men despite being involved in five times as many police incidents. read more

Obama Justice Dept. Releases George W. Bush’s Legal Justification for Warrantless Surveillance with Key Sections Still Censored

As is so often the case with late Friday news releases, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Although the move by the Obama administration appears to be a positive step towards transparency, crucial sections of the memos remain censored. At issue is the fact that the program actually went beyond monitoring foreign conversations and included the bulk collection of emails from Americans with no connection to terrorism. read more

Women are Half the Population, but Only a Quarter of Candidates for Political Office

Only 20% of U.S. senators, 18% of House members, 10% of governors and 24% of state legislators are women, according to a Pew Research study. The research looked at the 2% of Americans who say they’ve run for public office at some time in their lives and found that group is overwhelmingly male and white. Eighty-two percent of those who have run for office are white. read more