Robin Fields
I’m a senior editor covering health, including the drug industry, insurance denials and reproductive care.
Need to Get in Touch?
I’m interested in hearing from patients, their families and those formerly or currently working in health care about practices that put lives at risk or abuse a system all of our lives depend on.
What I Cover
I’m covering health, including the drug industry, insurance denials and changes in access to reproductive care.
My Background
I was among the first reporters to join ProPublica in 2008, and I then went on to serve as the managing editor from 2013 to 2022 before returning to reporting. Stories I’ve reported or edited have won pretty much all the journalism awards there are. As a ProPublica reporter, I’ve written mostly about health, including stories on U.S. dialysis care, psychiatric hospitals, maternal mortality, health insurance denials and pricey prescription drugs. Before joining ProPublica, I was a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where I investigated California’s guardianship system for incapacitated adults, and the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida, where I wrote about consumer scams as well as innumerable disasters, both natural and manmade.
How Polio Crept Back Into the U.S.
U.S. public health agencies generally don’t test wastewater for signs of polio. That may have given the virus time to circulate silently before it paralyzed a New York man.
In a Post-Roe America, Expect More Births in a Country Where Maternal Mortality Continues to Rise
The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among wealthy countries. And it may get worse as abortions become more difficult to obtain, say public health experts.
The Investigative Reporting Behind America’s Obsession With Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
Years ago, ProPublica Managing Editor Robin Fields investigated California conservatorships. Recently, she interviewed New York Times Senior Story Editor Liz Day about the reporting in the “Framing Britney Spears” documentary.
Welcome to Our Second Decade
Much has changed since ProPublica published its first story, but we remain committed to the power of fact-based journalism to spur change and right wrongs.
Here’s One Issue Blue and Red States Agree On: Preventing Deaths of Expectant and New Mothers
From Indiana to Oregon, lawmakers are passing bills to increase scrutiny of maternal deaths. Often, they’re citing our “Lost Mothers” series.
Maternal Deaths Are Increasing in Texas, But Probably Not as Much as We Thought
A statistical jump in the mortality rate of expectant and new mothers over 40 is “biologically implausible,” according to the co-author of a new study.
New York City Launches Committee to Review Maternal Deaths
Amid intensifying concerns about deaths and near-deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth, New York City will review cases in depth to protect mothers and improve data collection.
How Many American Women Die From Causes Related to Pregnancy or Childbirth? No One Knows.
Data collection on maternal deaths is so flawed and under-funded that the federal government no longer even publishes an official death rate.
ProPublica Files Lawsuit Seeking VA Correspondence Related to Agent Orange
The suit filed by ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot claims the VA has stonewalled in response to requests for documents, including those sent and received by David Shulkin, the president-elect’s pick to be VA secretary.