Tracy Weber, in collaboration with Charles Ornstein, was a lead reporter on a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times titled “The Troubles at King/Drew" hospital that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for public service in 2005. Her ProPublica series, with Charles Ornstein, "When Caregivers Harm: California's Unwatched Nurses" was a finalist for a 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Weber reported for the Los Angeles Times from 1994 to 1999 and again beginning in 2003. Previous to her prize-winning collaborations with Ornstein, Weber spent a year reporting from inside California's juvenile court system, prompting reforms in state law. Earlier in her career she reported for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Orange County Register.
Articles
Feb. 1, 11:03 a.m.
You can still find some older Allergan payments in ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database, along with data from 11 other drug companies.
Jan. 24, 2:04 p.m.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wants to know why an Ohio doctor wrote 54 prescriptions per weekday for the antipsychotic Abilify, while the biggest prescriber of Seroquel wrote an average nine prescriptions per hour.
Jan. 3, 2:55 p.m.
Continued reporting on the influence of pharmaceutical money on medicine spurred tighter rules at medical schools across the nation.
Dec. 23, 2011, 2:15 p.m.
The annual death toll from overdoses of painkillers has reached almost 15,000, prompting the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to term it an “epidemic.” But the American Pain Foundation continues to claim the risks are overblown. The advocacy group’s biggest supporter? The drug industry.
Dec. 23, 2011, 2:14 p.m.
American Pain Foundation board members Scott Fishman and Perry Fine, both physicians, have lectured and authored publications funded by makers of narcotic painkillers. They say the support doesn’t bias them.
Nov. 17, 2011, 9:03 a.m.
Medicaid programs have long had evidence that a few physicians prescribed risky drugs in excess, but it wasn’t until Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, demanded to know the top prescribers that states began to investigate.
Nov. 1, 2011, 4:51 p.m.
Houston-based Allied and its founder, Jim Hodge, were the subject of a July 2010 investigation by ProPublica detailing alleged misconduct in 18 states. The government suspended Allied from issuing government-backed mortgages, saying nearly a third of its FHA loans between 2001 and 2010 defaulted.
Sept. 16, 2011, 1:23 p.m.
At least 15 drug and medical-device companies have paid $6.5 billion since 2008 to settle accusations of marketing fraud or kickbacks, but none of the more than 75 doctors named as participants were sanctioned.
Sept. 12, 2011, 4:03 p.m.
Maxim Healthcare Services, Inc. had been accused of submitting false bills to federal and state health programs. An earlier ProPublica investigation found that the company had hired several nurses despite a history of problems.
Sept. 8, 2011, 12:18 p.m.
Regional newspapers that analyzed ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs data say drug company payments to physician speakers have declined in their states, suggesting that new restrictions and publicity are making an impact.
Sept. 7, 2011, 8 p.m.
ProPublica’s newly updated Dollars for Docs database offers a glimpse of what patients can expect in 2013, when all drug and medical-device companies must report to the federal government what they pay doctors to help market their products.
Sept. 7, 2011, 4:34 p.m.
Details behind our drug company money database.
Sept. 7, 2011, 4:31 p.m.
An update of ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database includes more than $760 million in payments from 12 pharmaceutical companies to physicians and other health-care providers for consulting, speaking, research and expenses.
Sept. 7, 2011, 4:30 p.m.
Has Your Doctor Received Drug Company Money?
Sept. 7, 2011, 10:48 a.m.
As ProPublica gets ready to refresh its Dollars for Docs database listing payments from drug companies to hundreds of thousands of doctors, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America says paid physician speakers play a critical role in improving patient care.
May 19, 2011, 12:01 p.m.
Reacting to ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs coverage, Stanford and other schools discipline doctors, rewrite policies and increase scrutiny of drug-industry ties.
May 17, 2011, 4:59 p.m.
Reporting on politicians’ sexual misconduct calls for people who have been abused to put their humiliations on display. But there’s no guarantee it will have an electoral impact.
May 5, 2011, 8:48 p.m.
The Heart Rhythm Society says the financial support it receives from drug and medical-device makers plays no role in its advocacy for certain treatments. Information sheets published by the group do not mention potential risks from implanted defibrillators or cardiac catheter ablation.
May 5, 2011, 8:48 p.m.
Professional groups like the Heart Rhythm Society write guidelines on treatments and the use of medical devices, but researchers say their acceptance of sponsorships and grants from drug and device makers poses a conflict of interest that many patients never consider.
