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David Armstrong

David Armstrong is a reporter at ProPublica specializing in health care investigations.

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David Armstrong is a 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.

Opioid Billionaires

We Are Releasing the Full Video of Richard Sackler’s Testimony About Purdue Pharma and the Opioid Crisis

A settlement is about to shield members of the Sackler family from civil litigation regarding their alleged roles in the opioid crisis.

Coronavirus

Mueren en la lista de espera

En el condado de Los Ángeles, y en todo el país, médicos han tenido que decidir quién recibe un tratamiento para COVID-19 que salva vidas, y quién no.

Coronavirus

Dying on the Waitlist

In Los Angeles County and around the country, doctors have had to decide who gets a lifesaving COVID-19 treatment and who doesn’t.

Coronavirus

States With Few Coronavirus Restrictions Are Spreading the Virus Beyond Their Borders

Lax states are attracting shoppers and students from stricter neighbors — and sending back COVID-19 cases. The imbalance underscores the lack of a national policy.

Cleveland Hospitals’ Private Police “Border Patrol” Comes Under Scrutiny

Local elected officials and the NAACP are calling for tougher supervision of private police forces, including one run by the Cleveland Clinic, after ProPublica found that these officers disproportionately arrest Black people.

The Startling Reach and Disparate Impact of Cleveland Clinic’s Private Police Force

Armed private police patrolling Cleveland’s medical zone and the city streets around it disproportionately charge and cite Black people, even though most hospital employees, patients and visitors are white.

Coronavirus

Superintendent Bragged About VA Review of Short-Staffed Soldiers Home. Two Months Later, 73 Veterans Are Dead.

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.

Coronavirus

COVID-19 Put Her Husband in the ICU. She Had to Be Hospitalized Next. The State Demanded to Know: Who Would Care for Their Children?

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.

Coronavirus

One Reason Caregivers Are Wearing Trash Bags: A U.S. Firm Had to Recall 9 Million Surgical Gowns

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.”

Coronavirus

Doctors Are Hoarding Unproven Coronavirus Medicine by Writing Prescriptions for Themselves and Their Families

Pharmacists told ProPublica that they are seeing unusual and fraudulent prescribing activity as doctors stockpile unproven coronavirus drugs endorsed by President Donald Trump.