Joseph Shapiro

Justice In The Segregated South: A New Look At An Old Killing

Joseph Shapiro — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:03:00 +0000

This story contains language that some may find offensive.

In the segregated South in 1965, John Queen was about as insignificant as a man could be. He was black, elderly and paralyzed. His legs had been crushed when as a boy he fell off a roof. For the rest of his life, he pulled himself around with his hands.

In Fayette, Miss., he would shine shoes on Main Street for a few coins. People called him "Crippled Johnny" or "Shoe-Shine Johnny."

"He didn't have legs, so he walked like a rabbit," says Lillie Lee Henderson, Queen's great-niece.

Law Targets Sexual Violence On College Campuses

Joseph Shapiro — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:38:00 +0000

When President Obama signs an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday afternoon, the law will include new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault.

Laura Dunn, who's been invited by the White House to attend, plans to be there.

In 2010, Dunn told her story on Morning Edition: She believed her Wisconsin school failed to p

Koop Turned Surgeon General's Office Into Mighty Education Platform

Joseph Shapiro — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 22:32:00 +0000

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

C. Everett Koop was the most outspoken and some would argue the most influential of all U.S. surgeon generals. [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The correct plural form of the word is surgeons general.] He wore the uniform throughout most of the 1980s, and he turned an office with little power into a mighty platform - to educate Americans about AIDS prevention and the dangers of smoking.

C. Everett Koop died today at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was 96. NPR's Joseph Shapiro looks back on his career.

JOSEPH SHAPIRO, BYLINE: When C.

Why A Young Man Died In A Nursing Home, A State Away From His Mom

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Zach Sayne was 25 when he died earlier this month at the place that had been his home for 15 years — a children's nursing home in Alabama.

But that was too far away, 200 miles too far, for his mother in Georgia. Nola Sayne was trying to bring him back, closer to her home.

Dismissed Case Raises Questions On Shaken Baby Diagnosis

Joseph Shapiro — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 20:16:00 +0000

When San Francisco prosecutors dismissed charges against Kristian Aspelin in early December, it became just the latest case to raise questions about how shaken baby syndrome is diagnosed. Aspelin, who was accused of causing the death of his infant son, had one thing in his favor: He had enough money to pay for medical experts who cast doubt on the prosecution's theory.

Spinal Surgery Company To Give Tissue Proceeds To Charity

Joseph Shapiro — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:22:00 +0000

When a California company developed a product to be used in spinal fusion surgeries, the firm's president said he knew it faced a new "ethical dilemma," even noting a recent NPR news investigation questioning the high profits some firms were making from donated human tissue.

Spinal Elements, a small and growing company, had long made plates, screws and other technology used in spinal surgeries.

Brain-Damaged Man Wins New Trial In Two-Decades-Old Killing

Joseph Shapiro — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 07:36:00 +0000

Richard Lapointe confessed in 1989 that he stabbed, raped and killed his wife's 88-year-old grandmother two years earlier. But in the 23 years since, experts in criminal justice have come to better understand how sometimes people make false confessions — especially someone with brain damage, like Lapointe.

Pistorius Falls To Britain's Peacock In 200 Meters; American Browne Is Second

Joseph Shapiro — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 23:07:00 +0000

In one of the most closely watched events at the London Paralympics, South African Oscar Pistorius failed in his attempt to win the 100-meter sprint and regain his title as the world's fastest amputee today.

Great Britain's Jonnie Peacock took the lead early and kept it, winning in 10.90 seconds, a Paralympic record. American Richard Browne, 21, of Jackson, Miss., won the silver medal.

Pistorius, the double amputee who ran in the Olympics this year, came in fourth. He finished in 11.17 seconds.

Peacock, a single amputee, is just 19; he calls Pistorius his hero.

Oscar Pistorius Seeks Redemption In Race To Be The World's Fastest Amputee

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 20:23:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Wlp1sTnoY

Debate Pits Strasburg's Health Against Wins

Joseph Shapiro — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 21:12:00 +0000

One of the biggest debates in Washington, D.C., these days has nothing to do with taxes, health care or the economy. It's about baseball and whether the Washington Nationals should end the season of their young pitching star, Stephen Strasburg, just as the team may be headed for the playoffs.

Two years ago, Strasburg's promising career was threatened when he tore a ligament in his pitching arm.

The Seamy Side Of The Human Tissue Business

Joseph Shapiro and sandra bartlett — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 07:33:00 +0000

Part 4 in a four-part series

The human tissue industry has created medical advances for millions of Americans. Tissue taken from cadavers is turned into medical products for the living. A tendon can be used to repair a torn ACL. Veins are used in heart bypass operations. Bone can be turned into plates and screws. They look like something you'd find in a hardware store, but these get used to mend a broken leg. It's a $1 billion-a-year industry that attracts the altruistic, but sometimes the greedy.

Am I A Tissue Donor, Too?

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:43:00 +0000
Part 3 in a four-part series
Maybe you've agreed to be an organ donor. There might be something on your driver's license — a red heart, a pink dot or the word "Donor" — to show it. That also means you've very likely agreed — even if you don't realize it — to donate more than just your organs.
I know that I'm an organ donor. I signed up years ago, when I renewed my driver's license. But I had no idea that I'd also signed up to donate my tissue.

Little Regulation Poses Problems Tracking Tissue

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 08:03:00 +0000
Part 2 of a four-part series
Two winters ago, Lynnette Bellin tore her knee while skiing with her 5-year-old daughter.
"I felt the trademark pop ... and instantly knew I had injured my knee," she says.
But within a year, she was back to her athletic life.
"Recently in one week, I skied, ran, kayaked, standup paddle-boarded, swam and hiked.

Calculating The Value Of Human Tissue Donation

Joseph Shapiro — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:48:00 +0000
Part 1 of a four-part series
The story of how Chris Truitt went from being a tissue industry insider to an industry skeptic starts with a family tragedy.
In 1999, his 2-year-old daughter, Alyssa, died of a sudden health complication. Truitt and his wife, Holly, donated their daughter's organs and tissue, which saved the life of another young girl, Kaylin Arrowood.
The Truitts became close friends with Kaylin's family and then advocates together, telling others to donate.

Baseball's Teen Phenom Steals Home, And Hearts

Joseph Shapiro — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 19:01:00 +0000
Bryce Harper was 16 when he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, pictured swinging a bat in the desert and declared "Baseball's Chosen One."
He was 17 when he was chosen as the top pick in the amateur draft.