You know what we do here at ProPublica: investigative reporting that sparks change and holds power to account. As we near the end of February, we wanted to share five examples of how our investigations have already done that this year.
From Colorado to Massachusetts to Texas, ProPublica investigations, many of them published in collaboration with local partners, led to proposed changes to laws and practices. And while we report on the details of how these changes happen, we aim to never lose sight of how these changes could affect actual people. This may mean, for example, people under New York’s guardianship system receiving better care, or survivors of rape in Massachusetts being able to pursue justice without a deadline.
Read on to learn more about our recent reporting that’s making an impact.
Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Major Changes to How Labs Test for Contaminants
More than a decade ago, Colorado created the first regulated recreational marijuana market in the nation. Lawmakers promised the state’s voters that the move to legalize marijuana would drive out the black market and create a safer environment through regulation. But, as Denver Gazette reporters Christopher Osher and Evan Wyloge revealed in a January investigation in partnership with ProPublica, hemp derivatives have jeopardized that promise.
For years, hemp, which is a close cousin of marijuana and is cheaper to produce, seeped into the Colorado marijuana market. While Colorado allows the use of hemp in some items such as clothing and rope, the state banned companies from using it to make intoxicating products sold in the state. Our investigation found that despite the ban, the Colorado legislature and regulators failed to adopt critical regulations that other states have employed to keep harmful hemp products off the shelves. One result, some marijuana manufacturers say, is that some companies are sending samples and products that they know will pass mandatory testing to labs; dispensaries, meanwhile, might receive products that could be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungus or pesticides.
But, as Osher and Wyloge reported this month, Colorado’s Marijuana Enforcement Division may now require independent labs or outside vendors to collect product samples for testing before they can be sold. That would remove marijuana manufacturers’ ability to choose which products they send in.
Read the full story.
The Clear Labels Act Would Change What You Know About Your Prescription Medication
U.S. senators introduced legislation this month that would require prescription drug labels to identify where the medication was made, adding momentum to a yearslong campaign to bring more transparency to the often elusive generic drug industry.
Current labels often list only a distributor or repackager of a medication and sometimes provide no information at all. The Clear Labels Act, introduced by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., calls for labels to disclose the original manufacturer as well as the suppliers that produced key ingredients.
A spokesperson for the trade group for brand-name drugmakers told ProPublica that the industry would “welcome conversations about how to strengthen the biopharmaceutical supply chain.” The generic drug lobbying group said that additional labeling requirements would impose “significant costs in exchange for limited returns,” adding that drug manufacturers already disclose country of origin information under U.S. Customs and Border Protection rules.
Our reporters had to file public records requests and sue the FDA in federal court to obtain information about where generic drugs are made and whether government inspectors had flagged those factories for safety or quality concerns. We ultimately created a first-of-its-kind tool that allows consumers to find the information themselves.
Read the full story.
Mass. Governor Proposes Eliminating Statute of Limitations for Rape When DNA Evidence Exists
Last year, WBUR and ProPublica told the story of a woman who, according to a police report, had been raped and stabbed after accepting a ride in 2005 from a man who said he recognized her from college. DNA testing later connected a man accused of multiple assaults to her case, but prosecutors had to drop charges under Massachusetts’ statute of limitations.
Under Massachusetts law, prosecutors have only 15 years to file charges after an alleged rape — and it’s nearly impossible to bring charges past that statute of limitations even if new evidence emerges. That places Massachusetts behind almost every other state in the country. Attempts to expand that window have failed every year since 2011 in part because defense attorneys have opposed changes, arguing a longer deadline risks violating the rights of the accused.
WBUR’s Willoughby Mariano reported that Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to eliminate that deadline for rape cases when DNA evidence exists. The provision, which is included in Healey’s budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year, needs to pass both chambers of the state Legislature. If enacted, it would affect cases where the statute of limitations has not yet expired and future cases, but not older cases.
Read the full story.
We Found New York’s Guardianship System in Shambles. Now State Lawmakers Say They Have a Plan to Help Fix It.
Two years after ProPublica’s Jake Pearson first documented New York’s dire shortage of guardians — and the substandard care some provide — state lawmakers introduced legislation to boost spending on the system by $15 million a year. It would be an unprecedented cash infusion for a bureaucracy that has long struggled to care for the tens of thousands of disabled or elderly New Yorkers who cannot care for themselves.
The new bill, called the Good Guardianship Act, aims to help the most vulnerable segment of this population: those who are too poor to pay for a private guardian and who have no family or friends willing to serve. Advocates say the Good Guardianship Act is the most promising step to date in improving the system — if it can get the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The proposal follows a 2024 ProPublica investigation that revealed how the state’s guardianship system was failing this group in particular by conducting little to no oversight of guardians, some of whom provided substandard care and exploited those they were charged with looking after. The stories also prompted the state attorney general to open an investigation into several guardianship providers and spurred the court system to appoint a special counsel to enact reforms.
Read the full story.
After Years of Silence, Texas Medical Board Issues Training for Doctors on How to Legally Provide Abortions
For the first time since Texas criminalized abortion, the state’s medical regulator is instructing doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to protect the life of the patient — guidance physicians have long sought as women died and doctors feared imprisonment for intervening.
The new mandated training for any doctor providing obstetric care goes over nine case studies for physicians where abortion is considered legal to protect the life of the patient. Some of the scenarios in the training are similar to instances ProPublica investigated, such as miscarriages where a patient’s water breaks before term but there is still a fetal heartbeat or when someone is experiencing complications from an incomplete abortion.
ProPublica’s reporting has shown that pregnancy became far more dangerous in the state after the law took effect: Sepsis rates spiked for women suffering a pregnancy loss, as did emergency room visits in which miscarrying patients needed a blood transfusion; at least four women in the state died after they didn’t receive timely reproductive care. More than a hundred OB-GYNs said the state’s abortion ban was to blame.
Read the full story.
