November 2016 Archive
High-dollar Prescribers Proliferate in Medicare’s Drug Program
Forty-one health providers prescribed more than $5 million in drugs in 2011. Last year, that jumped to 514. “The trends in this space are troubling and don’t show any signs of abating,” a federal official said.
We've Updated Prescriber Checkup with 2014 Data
Use this tool to compare how your doctor prescribes medications in Medicare's drug program with other doctors in the same specialty and state. Our data includes information on drug costs and prescriptions for risky drugs.
NYC Lawmakers Push For Audits of Landlords Who Pocket $1.4 Billion Tax Break
Legislation introduced in City Council on Wednesday would require the city’s housing arm to audit 20 percent of buildings receiving the benefit. Violators would have to return the money.
After Electionland: How it Worked, What We Found and What’s Next
Electionland, an unprecedented effort to cover ballot access issues in real time, launched on November 8th. Today we talk with a few of the key players from ProPublica about what it was like reporting from one of the largest newsrooms in the country on Election Day.
These Professors Make More Than a Thousand Bucks an Hour Peddling Mega-Mergers
The economists are leveraging their academic prestige with secret reports justifying corporate concentration. Their predictions are often wrong and consumers pay the price.
Hate Crimes Are Up — But the Government Isn’t Keeping Good Track of Them
There is considerable anxiety about the potential for violence after a bitter national election. The data kept on hate crimes won’t reassure anyone.
New Study Could Pressure VA to Expand Agent Orange Benefits
More than four decades after the end of the Vietnam War, research is still showing the effects of the herbicide Agent Orange. The latest findings: An association between exposure and high blood pressure.
The Sheriff Gets His Man
A mustachioed Ohio lawman who rails against undocumented immigrants is suddenly less of a fringe figure. He embodies the changing of the GOP guard in the heartland.
Facebook Says it Will Stop Allowing Some Advertisers to Exclude Users by Race
Facebook says it will build a system to prevent advertisers from buying credit, housing or employment ads that exclude viewers by race.
Revenge of the Forgotten Class
Hillary Clinton and the Democrats were playing with fire when they effectively wrote off white workers in the small towns and cities of the Rust Belt.
Thousands of Potentially Wrongful Convictions; Years of Delayed Action
Four years after a Massachusetts crime lab chemist confessed to tainting evidence, more than 20,000 defendants still don’t know if their drug convictions will stand.
2016 Election Lawsuit Tracker: The New Election Laws and the Suits Challenging Them
Courts are scrambling to rule on state election laws in time for the elections being held later this year. We’re keeping track of their decisions.
HUD Has ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Ethnic Targeting
Federal officials are taking a close look at a sales practice that allows advertisers on the social network to include or exclude people who have an “affinity” with specific ethnic groups.
Waiting to Vote: Could 2012 Offer Clues on Where Floridians Will Encounter Long Lines?
Early voting is up this year among Latinos. Heavily Latino precincts had later closing times on Election Day four years ago, an indicator of long waits.
Would Wall Street Have a Place in a Clinton Administration?
If Clinton is elected she could face a fight with her party’s most liberal wing over potential top hires like Tom Nides, who has spent his career straddling government and high finance.
Defense Lawyers in Las Vegas Consider Formal Challenge to Use of Field Tests in Drug Prosecutions
Local defense bar explores options after ProPublica investigation showed that police and prosecutors continue to use flawed drug tests in sending thousands to jail.
Where Traditional DNA Testing Fails, Algorithms Take Over
Powerful software is solving more crimes and raising new questions about due process.
Clay Pigeons: How Lobbyists Secretly Woo Top Election Officials
Secretaries of state, who oversee ballot measures on topics from gun control to the minimum wage, are increasingly courted by interest groups and industries with billions of dollars at stake.
