Whistleblower News from the Inside - September 20, 2013

Study says up to 440,000 U.S. deaths per year are from hospital mistakes – The Journal of Patient Safety findings make medical errors the third-leading cause of death in America behind heart disease and cancer.  ProPublica

Halliburton guilty of destroying evidence in Gulf spill fiasco – The company pleads guilty to charges that it destroyed evidence to cover up its potential liability for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, though some believe that the plea deal does not go far enough.  Aljazeera

Government system of background checks seriously questioned – An Associated Press investigation finds the Navy Yard shooting just the latest example of the government’s failure to properly vet the millions of Americans with security clearance.  AP

White House warns of Obamacare scams – The caution concerned con artists seeking personal information and payments from among the millions of individuals enrolling in the subsidized health plans provided under the new law.  NYT

Sharply divided SEC proposes new disclosure rules on CEO/worker pay ratios – The rule, which the Dodd-Frank Act mandates, would require companies to report how the salaries of their chief executives compare to their regular employees.  Reuters