The harms of COVID misinformation

A Wisconsin doctor in 2021 prescribed ivermectin, typically used to treat parasitic infections, to two covid-19 patients who later died of the disease. He was fined less than $4,000 — and was free to continue practicing. A Massachusetts doctor has continued practicing without restriction despite being under investigation for more than a year over allegations …

The right to rest

Amid a record heat wave, some workers in Texas will soon lose their right to rest breaks

Juilliard fires professor after sexual-misconduct investigation

Robert Beaser has been fired from his position on The Juilliard School’s composition faculty after an investigation by the law firm Potter & Murdock found Beaser had “interfered with individuals’ academic work,” engaged in “an unreported relationship” in the late 1990s and early 2000s and “repeatedly misrepresented facts about his actions,” the school announced in …

Crypto ignites conflict

In upstate New York, cryptocurrency mining causes rifts between local businesses and an enterprising corporation.

California regulators drafting emergency rule to combat deadly lung disease

Workplace regulators in California are drafting an emergency rule to address an epidemic of silicosis — a deadly, preventable lung disease — among fabricators of artificial-stone countertops. In December, Public Health Watch, LAist and Univision revealed what’s believed to be the nation’s biggest cluster of the disease, in the Los Angeles area. The news outlets’ …

Latest chemical plant fire unnerves, infuriates Houston-area residents

A recent investigation by Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune revealed government negligence before and during a devastating 2019 fire at a tank farm in the Houston suburb of Deer Park. Earlier this month, a public hearing was held for that facility. The next day, another big fire broke out at a plant down the road.

New stories, podcast range from health to AI

Latest stories Two-part deep-dive into a toxic cloud in Texas A 10-month investigation by Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune found that many state and federal scientists documented problems at an ITC chemical-storage facility long before catastrophe struck in 2019. The story, published April 26, details how this accident unfolded in Deer Park, a tight-knit city of 30,000. It is based …

‘Haunting’ turmoil remains

The Texas Tribune analyzed previously unreported air monitoring data and records from the 2019 ITC chemical disaster near Houston and found that high benzene levels lingered in the air for two weeks after public health measures were lifted. Experts say more shelter-in-place advisories should have been issued.