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Health Care

Patient Safety

Exploring Quality of Care in the U.S.

More than 1 million patients suffer harm each year while being treated in the U.S. health care system. Even more receive substandard care or costly overtreatment. Our ongoing investigation of patient safety features in-depth reporting, discussion and tools for patients.

72 stories published since 2012

Doctor Confesses: I Lied to Protect Colleague in Malpractice Suit

New Report: Problem Care Harms Almost One-Third of Rehab Hospital Patients

Study Urges CDC to Revise Count of Deaths from Medical Error

Watch Live: ProPublica Forum on Nation’s Broken Patient Safety System

When a Brain Surgeon Becomes a Malpractice Lawyer

How Denmark Dumped Medical Malpractice and Improved Patient Safety

A Trail of Medical Errors Ends in Grief, But No Answers

Orthopedic Board Hasn’t Adopted Surgeon Scorecard After All

Orthopedic Board Will Use Surgeon Scorecard to Help Re-certify Docs

Our Rebuttal to RAND’s Critique of Surgeon Scorecard

Editor’s Note: ‘Dr. Abscess’ and Why Surgeon Scorecard Matters

For a Surgeon With a History of Complications, a Felony Past

Surgeon Scorecard and Cancer Centers

Surgeon Scorecard

How We Measured Surgical Complications

Why We Are Publishing Surgeons’ Complication Rates

What Experts Are Saying About Surgeon Scorecard

Key Questions We Considered in Creating Surgeon Scorecard

Alleged Patient Safety Kickbacks Lead To $1 Million Settlement

Unapproved, but Used in Surgery

Patient Safety Journal Adjusts After an Eye-Opening Scandal

Q&A: What Can U.S. Health Care Learn from the Ebola Outbreak?

We’re Still Not Tracking Patient Harm

Beyond Ratings: More Tools Coming to Pick Your Doctor

Rocky Mountain High or Reefer Madness? Legal Pot in Colorado Comes with Risks

So You’ve Become a Patient Safety Statistic – Now What?

Ad Endorsing da Vinci Robot Violated U of Illinois Policies, Review Finds

One Third of Skilled Nursing Patients Harmed in Treatment

Health Quality Group Rethinks Drug Endorsement

Citing ‘Distraction,’ Quality Forum CEO Resigns Board Seats

When a University Hospital Backs a Surgical Robot, Controversy Ensues

Payments to CEO Raise New Conflicts at Top Health Quality Group

Senator Cites ‘Serious Concerns,’ Demands National Quality Forum Records

Hidden Financial Ties Rattle Top Health Quality Group

Ten Patient Stories: When Attorneys Refused My Medical Malpractice Case

Patient Harm: When An Attorney Won’t Take Your Case

Five Takeaways: Why Doctors Stay Mum About Mistakes Their Colleagues Make

Why Doctors Stay Mum About Mistakes Their Colleagues Make

How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?

One Step Closer To Getting Her Husband’s Heart Back

Prescriber Checkup Q&A

MuckReads Podcast: The Good Nurse

The Story Behind Our Hospital Interactive

Your Hospital May Be Hazardous To Your Health

When Harm in the Hospital Follows You Home

Podcast: ProPublica Explores Patient Safety

A Patient’s Guide: How To Stay Safe In a Hospital

What a New Doctor Learned About Medical Mistakes From Her Mom’s Death

How You Can Help ProPublica Cover Patient Safety

How We Used Facebook to Power Our Investigation Into Patient Harm

What We’re Watching

During Donald Trump’s second presidency, ProPublica will focus on the areas most in need of scrutiny. Here are some of the issues our reporters will be watching — and how to get in touch with them securely.

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

Photo of Sharon Lerner
Sharon Lerner

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

Photo of Andy Kroll
Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, including the Justice Department, U.S. attorneys and the courts.

Photo of Melissa Sanchez
Melissa Sanchez

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

Photo of Jesse Coburn
Jesse Coburn

I cover housing and transportation, including the companies working in those fields and the regulators overseeing them.

If you don’t have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

Most Read

    Why Gov. Greg Abbott Won’t Release His Emails With Elon Musk

    We asked Abbott for his and his staff’s emails with Elon Musk and Musk’s companies. The governor’s office won’t turn them over, saying some contain “intimate and embarrassing” information that is “not of legitimate concern to the public.”

    Zero Trust

    A Little-Known Microsoft Program Could Expose the Defense Department to Chinese Hackers

    The Pentagon bans foreign citizens from accessing highly sensitive data, but Microsoft bypasses this by using engineers in China and elsewhere to remotely instruct American “escorts” who may lack expertise to identify malicious code.

    Paradise Lost

    Obama and the Beach House Loopholes

    Although Hawaii has laws meant to preserve disappearing shorelines, beachfront property owners have been able to bypass them. That’s what happened at an expansive coastal estate officials say the Obamas will live in.

    Local Reporting Network

    The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE

    ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.

    Some Texas Officials Didn’t Respond to Flood Alerts, Echoing the Tragedies of Hurricane Helene

    Weather warnings predicted devastation from both the Texas floods and Hurricane Helene. But in both disasters, people were left in harm’s way.