Author: John Ingold
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Survivor of ’93 Chuck E. Cheese shooting has mixed emotions on death penalty
He remembers the hum of the vacuum cleaner, the sound of closing time at the Aurora Chuck E. Cheese restaurant where he worked in 1993. He remembers the dishes and the clatter they made when he dropped them to the floor after being shot in the face. He remembers the sight of his co-worker, just…
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Report: Colorado hospitals pushed costs to privately insured patients
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Colorado hospitals could have passed on savings to consumers of as much as $11.5 billion over a nine-year period if they had better contained costs and lowered their margins, according to a new state report. The report seems to indicate the administration of Gov. Jared Polis will take an aggressive line against hospitals in trying…
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Lawsuit: opioid company spread pain pills around Colorado
DENVER — The sales rep for one of America’s most prominent opioid manufacturers walked out of a Wheat Ridge pain clinic in May 2010 and couldn’t help but notice something odd. “(M)ost patients were young and particularly healthy looking,” he wrote in a note on the visit. Reps from Purdue Pharma were hardly unfamiliar with…
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Memorial for Douglas County sheriff’s Deputy Zackari Parrish filled with tears, hugs, enormous grief
The ventilation system whooshed inside the cavernous church sanctuary, and the deputy’s widow stepped to the front. Gracie Parrish let out a long breath. “Thank you for coming,” she began. “I am overwhelmed by the love and support of the community and the nation. Never in my world would I have imagined this.” Thirty-six hours…
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Colorado’s largest treatment provider for drug and alcohol addiction is closing
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Amid an ongoing epidemic of opioid and heroin overdoses, Colorado’s largest provider of treatment for drug and alcohol abuse will close its doors early next year, the victim of long-running financial losses and low government payments. Arapahoe House announced Friday that its last day at all of its locations will be Jan. 2. As of…
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Colorado remains least-obese state in US, but gap narrows
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Colorado retained its crown as the least-obese state in America this year, according to a new report out Tuesday. But the state’s widening waistlines mean that superlative is in jeopardy. Obesity surged 10 percent in Colorado over the past year, according to the annual America’s Health Rankings report by the United Health Foundation. That means 22.3…
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Rural Colorado doctors are retiring and dying — and no one is taking their place
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ORDWAY — Inside Karen Tomky’s small medical office, the fourth patient of the day lifted up his snap-button shirt to reveal a liver-colored smear of a bruise. “It was a heifer,” David Ragsdale said of the cow that trampled across his back. “She wouldn’t go in the chute. She came over top of me.” Tomky, a…
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Doctors: 11-month-old Denver boy’s death likely related to marijuana
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An 11-month-old Colorado boy’s death from a heart condition was likely related to ingestion of marijuana, two Denver doctors have concluded, but the precise link remains unclear. The boy’s death was first reported in a study published last year about kids’ emergency room visits following marijuana legalization. The boy, who was not identified in that study, arrived…
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Trump administration’s cuts imperil Colorado teen pregnancy prevention program
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A program working to prevent unwanted teen pregnancy in Colorado and that receives 75 percent of its funding from federal grants is in jeopardy of closing after the Trump administration decided to end those grants early. Colorado Youth Matter is one of 84 programs across the country to learn in recent weeks that its funding will…
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No insurers leaving Colorado health exchange in 2018, commissioner says
After months of worry, Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marguerite Salazar said Wednesday that no insurers are backing out of the state’s health care exchange for 2018, but consumers in the individual insurance market should expect to pay more. Salazar said nine companies filed plans with the state this week to offer individual insurance plans in 2018.…