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Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

Quiet End to Doc's Sexual Assault Case

A Charlotte doctor was accused by dozens of patients of sexual assault, making news in 2015. In 2018, a civil court held him liable for the crimes. But around 8 years later, , Fidelis Edosomwan, MD, took a plea deal. After a dozen felony charges, he ultimately ended up serving four days in jail with 18 months probation for several misdemeanors.

Still, Edosomwan's license remains active. He's not supposed to see patients under an agreement, but was recruiting new patients to a clinic on Facebook. He's listed as president, WBTV reported, and calls himself the CEO. Under the terms of his agreement with the North Carolina Medical Board, he can still own or run businesses, but not see patients.

In North Carolina, as in other states, there's a high bar for disciplining doctors who commit sexual assault. Complaints against doctors have risen around 75% in the last 7 years, WBTV reported. Of 52 medical board investigations in 2023, only 13 were closed with public discipline.

Many doctors continue to practice because sexual assault allegations are difficult to prove, the medical board's chief medical officer told WBTV. Only certain felony sexual assault convictions result in a license actually being removed. Only a third of doctors investigated by the state's medical board for sexual misconduct were publicly disciplined -- others fled the state.

'Forever Chemicals' Whistleblower

One scientist who worked for 3M for over 20 years said her research showing that polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were nearly ubiquitous in human blood was buried by her employer, even though it had already come to similar conclusions.

Kris Hansen told that early in her career, after her lab confirmed again and again that almost no blood remained free of the contaminant, she was shunned by colleagues and questioned by superiors until ultimately, she left for another department. Hansen convinced herself that the chemicals were safe at low levels.

But experts say PFAS -- known as "forever chemicals" -- do not break down in the environment and accumulate in the body. They've been linked to developmental delays, diabetes, obesity, liver problems, and certain cancers. And, according to ProPublica, companies are still using them, or chemicals that degrade into them, in countless products including dental floss, makeup, nonstick cookware, and hand sanitizer. PFAS are used in explosives, semiconductors, cleaning fluids, and batteries the government depends on.

In 2021, still an employee of 3M, Hansen finally allowed herself to start reading about the harms of these chemicals and what her company had known about them, which came out through thousands of lawsuits filed by cities and towns with polluted water.

Throughout her career at 3M, Hansen hadn't been ready to believe her employer was poisoning people. "It almost would have been too much to bear at the time," she told ProPublica.

Senior Care Site Questioned

A popular online referral site for senior living promotes facilities with serious safety citations and doesn't independently review facility safety records, a found.

"A Place for Mom" collects reviews from users and awards a "Best of Senior Living" award for "exemplary care and support to aging loved ones." But the Post looked up inspection and violation reports from 863 facilities in 28 states that make this information public.

The outlet found that 37% of these awardees had serious violations, including for severe bed sores, medication mistakes, failure to bathe and groom residents, understaffing, bad training, and even abuse. Less serious violations weren't accounted for.

Former sales managers and staff at a number of facilities said they were under pressure from leadership to collect positive reviews -- only from those families and patients who had a positive experience, usually because they required less care.

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