Caroline Chen

Reporter

Photo of Caroline Chen

Caroline Chen covers health care for ProPublica. She has written about public health, hospitals, drugmakers and clinical trials, highlighting disparities in patient access, broken funding models and abuses of power.

Her 2020 coverage of the coronavirus pandemic included investigations into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s early failures to contain the outbreak, vaccine inequities and distortion of COVID-19 data. Her work was part of ProPublica’s coverage recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service.

Her 2019 stories on a heart transplant program in New Jersey that prioritized metrics over patient care won the Livingston Award for local reporting. Her story on racial disparities in cancer clinical trials with Riley Wong in 2018 won the June L. Biedler Prize for Cancer Journalism in online/multimedia reporting.

Her writing has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine and NPR. Previously, she worked at Bloomberg News, where her coverage included the unraveling of blood test maker Theranos and the 2014 Ebola outbreak. She received her master’s degree from the Toni Stabile Program for Investigative Journalism at Columbia University, where she was awarded a Pulitzer traveling fellowship.

Coronavirus Tests Are Being Fast-Tracked by the FDA, but It’s Unclear How Accurate They Are.

“What good is a test if you don’t know it’s giving you reliable results?” one expert said. Concerns are mounting that a lack of accurate testing will make it more difficult for America to relax social distancing.

What ProPublica Is Doing About Diversity in 2020

Here is our annual report on the breakdown of our staff and how we’re working to create a more diverse news organization and inclusive journalism community.

What We Need to Understand About Asymptomatic Carriers if We’re Going to Beat Coronavirus

ProPublica’s health reporter Caroline Chen explains what the conversation around asymptomatic coronavirus carriers is missing, and what we need to understand if we’re going to beat this nefarious virus together.

Internal Emails Show How Chaos at the CDC Slowed the Early Response to Coronavirus

The CDC fumbled its communication with public health officials and underestimated the threat of the coronavirus even as it gained a foothold in the United States, according to hundreds of pages of documents ProPublica obtained.

Here’s Why Florida Got All the Emergency Medical Supplies It Requested While Other States Did Not

The Department of Health and Human Services has come under fire as several states’ requests for supplies from the emergency medical stockpile go unfulfilled. A chaotic distribution plan is buckling under a big problem: Nobody has enough.

How Many Americans Are Really Infected With the Coronavirus?

Health care reporter Caroline Chen dug into the projections to learn what to make of them. Forecasts are fuzzy, but the takeaway is clear: Stay home.

The FDA Is Forcing the CDC to Waste Time Double Testing Some Coronavirus Cases

The FDA’s strict guidance on test confirmations is one of several obstacles that has slowed the federal government’s response to COVID-19. The FDA could change its rules to speed things up, but hasn’t.

Should I Quarantine Because of Coronavirus? It Depends on Who You Ask.

Agencies, local authorities and national governments do not agree on who should be quarantined or what that should actually look like. Here’s what we do know.

Are You in Coronavirus Quarantine? Tell Us What Authorities Told You So We Can Make Sure It’s Right.

We’re collecting instructions state and local health departments have given about coronavirus quarantines. Help us hear from every state and city.

I Lived Through SARS and Reported on Ebola. These Are the Questions We Should Be Asking About Coronavirus.

For concerned civilians and journalists covering the coronavirus, the figures and projections can be overwhelming, frightening or confusing. Here’s what reporter Caroline Chen is focusing on to keep things as accurate and clear as possible.

House Democrats Probe Faulty Test Kits’ Role in Delaying Coronavirus Response

The House Oversight Committee cited ProPublica’s reporting in requesting documents from the Trump administration.

U.S. Hospitals Say They’re Ready for Coronavirus. Their Infection Control Violations Say Otherwise.

An outbreak would demand peak performance from America’s medical professionals — especially in hospitals. But many of the facilities that may be on the front lines have well-documented histories of failing to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

We Want to Talk to People Working, Living and Grieving on the Front Lines of the Coronavirus. Help Us Report.

Are you a public health worker, medical provider, elected official, patient or other COVID-19 expert? We’re looking for information and sources. Help make sure our journalism is responsible and focused on the right issues.

Key Missteps at the CDC Have Set Back Its Ability to Detect the Potential Spread of Coronavirus

The CDC designed a flawed test for COVID-19, then took weeks to figure out a fix so state and local labs could use it. New York still doesn’t trust the test’s accuracy.

Federal Regulators: Newark Beth Israel Put Patients in “Immediate Jeopardy”

The New Jersey hospital is taking corrective action after a government investigation spurred by ProPublica’s reporting found that its transplant team was failing to learn from surgical errors.

Students! ProPublica Wants to Pay for You to Attend a Conference in 2020

We’re giving away 20 scholarships to help students attend journalism conferences like NABJ-NAHJ, ONA and IRE. Apply!

The Family Wanted a Do Not Resuscitate Order. The Doctors Didn’t.

Andy Jurtschenko told his children that he didn’t want to be a burden on them. But after he suffered brain damage during a heart transplant at a New Jersey hospital, his medical team deflected their request for a DNR.

FBI Investigating Newark Beth Israel’s Transplant Program for Possible Fraud

The bureau is looking at whether the hospital may have defrauded Medicare and Medicaid as it kept a vegetative patient on life support for the sake of its metrics.

Doctor Who Advocated “Unethical” Care of Vegetative Patient Is Placed on Leave

Newark Beth Israel acted after our report that its transplant program kept a patient alive to improve its metrics, while barely consulting his family.

Feds to Investigate Hospital Alleged to Have Kept Vegetative Patient Alive to Game Transplant Survival Rates

Spurred by a ProPublica investigation, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will also carry out an inquiry.

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