You know what we do here at ProPublica. This is investigative journalism that drives change and holds accountability. As February draws to a close, we’d like to share five examples of how our research has carried out already this year.
From Colorado to Massachusetts to Texas, ProPublica’s investigations, many published in collaboration with local partners, have led to proposed changes to laws and practices. And while we report on the details of how these changes occur, we aim to never lose sight of how these changes can affect real people. This could mean, for example, that people under New York’s conservatorship system would receive better care, or that rape victims in Massachusetts could pursue justice without time limits.
Read on to learn more about recent impactful reports.
Colorado marijuana regulator considers major changes to how labs test for contaminants
More than a decade ago, Colorado created the nation’s first regulated recreational marijuana market. Lawmakers promised state voters that the marijuana legalization movement would eliminate the black market and create a safer environment through regulation. But hemp derivatives are putting that promise in jeopardy, as Denver Gazette reporters Christopher Osher and Evan Wairoge revealed in a January investigation in partnership with ProPublica.
Hemp, a relative of marijuana and cheaper to produce, has permeated Colorado’s marijuana market for years. Colorado allows hemp to be used in some items such as clothing and rope, but the state prohibits companies from using it to make intoxicating products for sale in the state. Our investigation found that despite the ban, the Colorado Legislature and regulators have not adopted important regulations that other states have adopted to keep harmful hemp products off store shelves. One result, according to some cannabis manufacturers, is that some companies are sending samples and products to labs that they know will pass mandatory testing. Pharmacies, on the other hand, may receive products that may be contaminated with chemical solvents, fungi, or pesticides.
But as Osher and Wiroge reported this month, the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Agency may now require independent laboratories and outside vendors to collect product samples for testing before sale. In that case, cannabis manufacturers would no longer be able to choose which products to send.
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Transparent labeling laws change what we know about prescription drugs
U.S. senators introduced a bill this month that would require prescription drug labels to identify where the drug was manufactured, giving momentum to a years-long movement to increase transparency in the elusive generic drug industry.
Current labels often only list the distributor or repackager of the drug, and sometimes provide no information at all. The Clear Labels Act, introduced by Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D.Y.), would require labels to disclose the original manufacturer and the supplier that made the key ingredients.
A spokesperson for a trade association for branded pharmaceutical companies told ProPublica that the industry “welcomes discussions about ways to strengthen the biopharmaceutical supply chain.” The generic drug lobby said the additional labeling requirements would impose “significant costs in exchange for limited returns,” adding that drug companies 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 manufactured and whether government inspectors flagged safety or quality concerns at those factories. Ultimately, we’ve created a first-of-its-kind tool that allows consumers to find information on their own.
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Massachusetts governor proposes eliminating statute of limitations for rape when DNA evidence exists
Last year, WBUR and ProPublica reported the story of a woman who was raped and stabbed after being picked up in a car by a man she said she knew from college in 2005, according to a police report. DNA tests later linked her case to a man accused of multiple assaults, but prosecutors were forced to drop the charges due to Massachusetts’ statute of limitations.
Under Massachusetts law, prosecutors have only 15 years to bring rape charges, but even if new evidence is discovered, it’s nearly impossible to bring charges beyond the statute of limitations. This leaves Massachusetts behind nearly every other state in the country. Attempts to extend this deadline have failed every year since 2011, in part because defense attorneys have opposed the change, arguing that extending the deadline risks infringing on defendants’ rights.
WBUR’s Willoughby Mariano reports that Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey wants to eliminate deadlines in rape cases when DNA evidence exists. The provision is included in Healey’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal and must pass both chambers of the state Legislature. If passed, it will affect cases for which the statute of limitations has not yet passed and future cases, but it will not affect older cases.
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We found a New York guardianship in the Shambles. Now, state lawmakers say they have a plan to fix the problem.
Two years after ProPublica’s Jake Pearson first documented New York state’s dire guardianship shortage and the substandard care some guardians provide, the state Legislature introduced a bill that would increase spending on the system by $15 million a year. This would be an unprecedented infusion of money to a bureaucracy that has long struggled to care for tens of thousands of disabled and elderly New Yorkers who are unable to care for themselves.
The new bill, called the Good Guardianship Act, aims to help the most vulnerable members of this population: those who are too poor to afford a private guardian or who do not have family or friends who can serve as their guardian. Advocates say the Good Guardianship Act, if backed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, is the most promising step yet in improving the system.
The proposal follows a 2024 ProPublica investigation that revealed how the state’s conservatorship system was particularly dysfunctional for this group, with little or no oversight over conservators, some of whom provided substandard care and exploited those entrusted to their care. The article also prompted the state attorney general to launch investigations into multiple guardianship providers and prompted the court system to appoint a special prosecutor to implement reforms.
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After years of silence, Texas Medical Board offers training for doctors on how to legally provide abortions
For the first time since Texas criminalized abortion, the state’s health care regulator is guiding doctors on when they can legally terminate a pregnancy to save a patient’s life. A woman died and doctors, who feared jail time for intervening, had sought guidance for years.
Newly required training for doctors providing obstetric care features nine case studies for doctors who consider it legal to perform an abortion to save a patient’s life. Some of the training scenarios are similar to cases investigated by ProPublica, such as miscarriages where a patient’s water breaks before birth but the fetus still has a heartbeat, and complications from incomplete abortions.
ProPublica reports that after the law went into effect, pregnancy became much more dangerous in the state. Sepsis rates among women who miscarried skyrocketed, as did emergency room visits where patients who miscarried required blood transfusions. At least four women have died in the state due to lack of timely access to reproductive health care. More than 100 obstetricians and gynecologists blamed the state’s abortion ban.
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