This is the second "bad nurses" story we've seen out of ProPublica and the L.A. Times, and while the issue's worth examining, seems to me there's an element of class discrimination to their focus.

I used to work as a medical fraud investigator, and during that time, I was shocked to discover that it was quite literally almost impossible for a doctor to permanently lose his license. I mean, there were doctors with ongoing drug and alcohol problems, doctors with falsified credentials, doctors who'd killed people - and they rarely got more than a slap on the hand and a temporary suspension.

So while it's of course a good idea to examine nurses, I'd like to see a similar examination of physicians, too:

Firms that supply temporary nurses to the nation's hospitals are taking perilous shortcuts in their screening and supervision, sometimes putting seriously ill patients in the hands of incompetent or impaired caregivers.

Emboldened by a chronic nursing shortage and scant regulation, the firms vie for their share of a free-wheeling, $4-billion industry. Some have become havens for nurses who hopscotch from place to place to avoid the consequences of their misconduct.

A joint investigation with the Los Angeles Times found dozens of instances in which staffing agencies skimped on background checks or ignored warnings from hospitals about sub-par nurses on their payrolls. Some hired nurses sight unseen, without even conducting an interview.

As a result, fill-in nurses with documented histories of poor care have fallen asleep on the job, failed to perform critical tests or stolen drugs intended to ease patients' pain or anxiety.

"A lot of them are really bad nurses," said Sandra Thompson, a nursing supervisor at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and Sherman Oaks Hospital, both in the San Fernando Valley. "Sometimes I see them here [at Northridge] and think, 'I wonder how long before I see them over' " at Sherman Oaks?

Some agencies are diligent about checking nurses' records, said Joey Ridenour, executive director of the Arizona State Board of Nursing.

Others are not. As a result, if wayward nurses want to work, "I think it's easier to hide in the registries," Ridenour said. "Some just sign them up."

I assume the administration thinks they're doing the right thing by pouring billions into the banks, but things seem to be getting worse for everyone else, don't they?

A registered nurse came close to losing her $1,550-a-month apartment on the Upper East Side after being let go from two jobs in three months. A woman found herself dipping into a 401(k) to keep her $3,375 unit in Peter Cooper Village after her husband was laid off in February from his six-figure marketing job. A father of two with an M.B.A. and a law degree owed $5,400 in back rent in Stuyvesant Town after he struggled to find steady work and lent money to his wife’s family.

Lawyers, judges and tenant advocates say the staggering economy has sent an increasing number of middle-class renters across New York City to the brink of eviction, straining the legal and financial services of city agencies and charities. Suddenly, residents of middle-class havens like Rego Park in Queens and Riverdale in the Bronx are crowding into the city’s already burdened housing courts, long known as poor people’s court.

Even some affluent people in high-end places are finding themselves facing off with landlords. One man, laid off by Merrill Lynch, was forced to move out of his $5,700 apartment in TriBeCa, owing $20,000 in back rent. Todd Nahins, a lawyer who represents owners of luxury residential buildings, has been busy negotiating payment plans for tenants in arrears.

“There’s definitely an uptick of people who were basically very good rent payers until the economic downturn,” Mr. Nahins said. “There’s so many of them. People who at one point had made money are now not earning enough to pay their rent.”