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The Prescribers

What Doctors Are Prescribing

Never-before-released government prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs known to be potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive for their patients. And officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns. Medicare’s failure to monitor what doctors are prescribing has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on excessive use of brand-name medication and exposed the elderly and disabled to drugs they should avoid.

50 stories published since 2013

See How Your Doctor or Provider’s Prescribing Patterns Compare

We’ve Updated Prescriber Checkup

Risky, Overused Medications Prescribed Far Less Often in the Aloha State

‘Extreme’ Use of Painkillers and Doctor Shopping Plague Medicare, New Report Says

How a Simple Fix to Reduce Aberrant Prescribing Became Not So Simple

High-dollar Prescribers Proliferate in Medicare’s Drug Program

We've Updated Prescriber Checkup with 2014 Data

Florida Doctor Pleads Guilty to Fraud — Years After Complaints About His Prescribing

As Opioid Epidemic Continues, Steps to Curb It Multiply

An Unintended Side Effect of Transparency

Brand-Name Drugs Increase Cost But Not Patient Satisfaction

Fraud Still Plagues Medicare Drug Program, Watchdog Finds

One Nation, Under Sedation: Medicare Paid for Nearly 40 Million Tranquilizer Prescriptions in 2013

Government Releases Massive Trove of Data on Doctors’ Prescribing Patterns

As Controlled Substance Use Rises in Medicare, Prolific Prescribers Face More Scrutiny

Using Prescriber Checkup: A Quick Guide

Illinois Suspends Medical License of Leading Prescriber of Antipsychotic Drugs

Suspicious Prescriptions for HIV Drugs Abound in Medicare

Fanny Pack Mixup Unravels Massive Medicare Fraud Scheme

Following Abuses, Medicare Tightens Reins on Its Drug Program

The Perils of Problematic Prescribing: A Double Dose of Warnings

Medicare’s Drug Program Needs Stronger Protections Against Fraud, Watchdog Says

Some Predictions on How Medicare Will Release Physician Payment Data

No Easy Definition for 'Abusive' Prescribing

ProPublica’s Prescriber Series Wins Top Philip Meyer Award

In A Major Shift, Medicare Wants Power to Ban Harmful Prescribers

Caught Up in a Medicare Drug Fraud

Medicare Moves to Tighten Oversight of Prescribers

Senators Press Medicare for Answers on Drug Program

‘Let the Crime Spree Begin’: How Fraud Flourishes in Medicare’s Drug Plan

Podcast: Millions Wasted on Brand-Name Drugs in Medicare

Generic or Name-Brand? 10 Docs Talk About Picking Drugs

How Prescriber Checkup Can Help You

How We Analyzed Medicare Data

Questions About Our Medicare Data

Medicare’s Failure to Track Doctors Wastes Billions on Name-Brand Drugs

Why You Should Care About the Drugs Your Doctor Prescribes

A Rap Sheet For Medicare’s Prescription Drug Program

Senator Asks States If They Alert Medicare to Problem Physicians

Podcast: Behind Our Prescriber Checkup Investigation

Top Medicare Official: ‘We Can and Should Do More' to Oversee Drug Plan

Top Medicare Prescribers Rake In Speaking Fees From Drugmakers

Not Authorized to Prescribe Drugs? Medicare Pays Anyway.

Inspector General Faults Medicare for Not Tracking 'Extreme' Prescribers

Lifting the Veil on Dangerous Prescribing

Eight Ways to Strengthen Medicare’s Drug Benefit

How We Analyzed Medicare’s Drug Data

Prescriber Checkup

Medicare Drug Program Fails to Monitor Prescribers, Putting Seniors and Disabled at Risk

FAQ: What You Need to Know About Prescriber Checkup

What We’re Watching

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Learn more about our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops.

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Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Andy Kroll

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Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor, and I am based in Chicago.

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Jesse Coburn

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