Haley Gentle paced the waiting room at the obstetrician’s office and reread the cryptic text message from her boss. Just three words: Will talk tomorrow. They […]
Category: Health
Authorities heard sexual misconduct claims against doctor for more than a decade
Brenda just wanted out of the exam room. Her physician, Dr. Michael Dick, had put his hands on her face, her shoulders, her thighs. He’d […]
Black, poor, and Southern: A deadly demographic for American pregnant women
Myra Powell gripped her phone, her obstetrician’s number half-dialed, as she watched the blood spread across her sundress. It was a blue-and-black striped dress, and […]
Alabama’s highest abortion rates are mostly in the Black Belt, where healthcare options are few
The flashing sign outside the Sumter County Health Department advertises family planning services every Wednesday. That means birth control and STD testing. It’s one of […]
Alabama doctor recruited prostitutes as patients, feds say
Around dinner time on November 15, 2018, Huntsville police arrived at a quiet cul-de-sac in Hampton Cove to find a 20-year-old woman, scantily clad, who […]
Injections at men’s clinic caused irreversible damage, lawsuits claim
Michael Forkner, 51, walked into the exam room at the Alabama Men’s Clinic in Birmingham and sat down in front of an employee named Tony. […]
Sexual misconduct by doctors
Dr. Michael Roy Sharpe’s official record is clean. There’s just one page in his public file at the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners, which notes that […]
Opioids lead to spike in foster care
Child protective services stepped into Bobbi Beverly’s life within days of her daughter’s birth in 2012. After the birth, Beverly tested positive for opiates and […]
Doctors come home to hardscrabble Birmingham neighborhood
The afternoon was hot, the damp air thick with the threat of rain. But the cracked parking lot behind the newly-opened Cahaba Medical Care clinic […]
Locals prepare for holidays in tiny Alabama town that lost its only grocery store
Tommy Pounders greets his regulars by name, welcoming them out of the rainy December day into the warmth of JJ’s, a tiny diner on U.S. […]