Tracy Weber
Tracy Weber is a managing editor at ProPublica. Previously, Weber was a deputy managing editor and senior reporter covering health care issues at ProPublica and, before that, she reported for the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and the Orange County Register.
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Tracy Weber is a managing editor at ProPublica, where she helps oversee and maximize projects across the newsroom.
Weber joined the original ProPublica staff as a reporter in 2008 from the Los Angeles Times, where she paired with Charles Ornstein on a series of articles about a troubled hospital that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2005, among other awards. At ProPublica, she and Ornstein were finalists for the same award in 2010 for a series on the broken oversight of nurses
Weber joined ProPublica’s editing ranks in 2014. In the six years that followed, work she edited won virtually every significant honor in journalism. Among other standouts, this includes a series she co-edited on grave, systemic problems in the Navy that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting; reporting on family separations, which won the Peabody Award’s first ever Catalyst Award, a George Polk award and was a Pulitzer finalist; and a series on jailhouse informants that won a National Magazine Award. She also guided hallmark series on how the financial system punishes the working poor; the gutting of the workers’ comp system; the toxic effect of blood spatter forensics on the justice system; and the rampant waste and perverse incentives in health care.
Financial Ties Bind Medical Societies to Drug and Device Makers
Professional groups like the Heart Rhythm Society write guidelines on treatments and the use of medical devices, but researchers say their acceptance of sponsorships and grants from drug and device makers poses a conflict of interest that many patients never consider.
The Heart Rhythm Society Responds to ProPublica’s Questions
Reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber sent the Heart Rhythm Society a set of questions about potential conflicts of interest regarding the group’s acceptance of drug and device industry marketing money. The responses below were provided by the group’s president, Dr. Douglas L. Packer, and president-elect, Dr. Bruce L. Wilkoff.
Medical Groups Shy About Detailing Industry Financial Support
Sen. Charles Grassley asked 33 health organizations who their corporate backers are, and responses show that some get half their income from the medical industry. Critics say public disclosure of industry ties is needed.
Dollars for Docs Adds Payouts from HIV Drug Maker
ViiV Healthcare, which specializes in HIV medications, disclosed paying $3.4 million in speaking and consulting fees to doctors during the first three quarters of 2010. It becomes the eighth company in Dollars for Docs database.
Dollars for Docs Sparks Policy Rewrite at Colorado Teaching Hospitals
The University of Colorado Denver and its affiliated teaching hospitals have launched an overhaul of conflict of interest policies after a ProPublica database revealed extensive ties between its faculty and pharmaceutical companies.
Dollars for Docs Payments Approach $300 Million
ProPublica has added another $13 million in payments to our Dollars for Docs database of drug-company spending on doctors and other health professionals. That brings the total to nearly $295 million.
Drug Companies Retain Tight Control of Physicians’ Presentations
Drug companies keep strict control of materials doctors use in paid presentations about pharmaceuticals. The companies say this ensures that speakers comply with U.S. FDA regulations.
Med Schools Flunk at Keeping Faculty Off Pharma Speaking Circuit
Top U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals are failing to adequately enforce policies that prohibit or restrict faculty physicians from being paid by drug companies to give promotional speeches about their products.
In Minnesota, Drug Company Reports of Payments to Doctors Arrive Riddled With Mistakes
A new federal plan will require drug and medical device companies to report all payments to U.S. physicians in 2013. The danger? As Minnesota discovered, some information submitted may not be accurate.
Drug Firms Say They'll Take Closer Look at the Docs They Pay
Seven drug companies paid $7.1 million to 292 doctors who faced disciplinary action or other regulatory sanctions, ProPublica found. Several companies say they may take steps to tighten screening procedures for physicians who are paid as speakers or for other activities promoting prescription drugs.