David Armstrong is a senior reporter at ProPublica, specializing in health care investigations. He joined ProPublica in March, 2018. Before that, he was a senior enterprise reporter for STAT, where he wrote about abuses in the addiction treatment industry, the rise of fentanyl and the recruiting of college football players with histories of concussions. Armstrong previously worked in the investigative unit at Bloomberg News, where he reported on the overuse of cardiac stents, problematic back surgeries and excesses in the pain industry.
Armstrong was also a reporter for nine years at the Wall Street Journal, where he reported on the influence of pharmaceutical and medical device companies on the practice of medicine – and the resulting harm to patients. He was part of the Journal staff awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for coverage of the attacks of Sept. 11. Armstrong was a reporter for the Boston Globe from 1993 to 2000, where his investigation of safety flaws in elevators and escalators won a George Polk Award and the Investigative Reporters and Editors award.
State-run veterans homes, which have suffered enormously in the pandemic, fall between the regulatory cracks. The VA disclaims responsibility for them, and its inspections have overlooked issues later identified by other investigators.
When Laura Whalen went to a hospital with COVID-19, she brought her kids. Her husband was already in an ICU, and she couldn’t risk them exposing their grandma. But the state told her to find someone to take them or it would.
Cardinal Health withdrew the gowns just before the pandemic because a Chinese supplier failed to sterilize them properly. The recall has created what a hospital association official called a “ripple effect.”
Pharmacists told ProPublica that they are seeing unusual and fraudulent prescribing activity as doctors stockpile unproven coronavirus drugs endorsed by President Donald Trump.
The CDC and hospitals have put medical providers and patients at risk as they fail to address national supply shortages. One emergency room doctor who did not have proper equipment and learned he had COVID-19 said, “I’m sure I exposed everyone I saw.”
A kidney care company did not cancel its conference even as the coronavirus spread. One attendee has been diagnosed, prompting fears that it will spread among doctors and patients. It’s one of several medical conferences that were not canceled.
A federal crackdown on professors’ undisclosed outside activities is achieving what China has long struggled to do: spur Chinese scientists to return home. In this crisis, it’s costing the U.S. intellectual firepower.
A National Institutes of Health database, which we’re making public for the first time, shows that researchers have reported more than 8,000 “significant” financial conflicts, potentially influencing their work.
We have collected more than 37,000 financial disclosures for professors and staff at about 20 public universities and researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. Now, we need your help.
OxyContin’s makers delayed the reckoning for their role in the opioid crisis by funding think tanks, placing friendly experts on leading outlets, and deterring or challenging negative coverage.
Downplaying its role in the opioid epidemic, Purdue Pharma has embraced a federal statistic showing it was a minor player in the pain pill market. But when we took drug potency into account, Purdue’s importance soared.
Sackler testified in 2015 in a lawsuit brought by Kentucky against his family’s company, Purdue Pharma, which makes the painkiller OxyContin. We published the transcript in February. Now you can see the video.
Last September, we examined Dr. Michael Holick’s work as an expert witness for alleged abusers. In the wake of the article, his hospital notified Massachusetts’ medical board that it restricted his privileges.
As OxyContin addiction spurred a national nightmare, a member of the family that has reaped billions of dollars from the painkiller boasted that sales exceeded his “fondest dreams,” according to a secret court document obtained by ProPublica.
Secret portions of a lawsuit allege that Purdue Pharma, controlled by the Sackler family, considered capitalizing on the addiction treatment boom — while going to extreme lengths to boost sales of its controversial opioid.
Dr. David Ayoub used to be active in the anti-vaccination movement. Now he’s challenging mainstream science again — as an expert witness for accused child abusers.
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