Impact

As part of NPR's reporting on mustard gas experiments during World War II, we've put together a searchable database with more than 3,900 test subjects who had "full body exposure" to the gas.

National

Families React To NPR's Reporting Of Secret Mustard Gas Testing

7:46am November 03, 2015

by Caitlin Dickerson

The World War II military experiments exposed more than 60,000 American troops. But because the testing was classified, many family members of veterans never learned the details of what happened.

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Qumotria Kennedy, 36, stands at the baseball field in downtown Biloxi where she worked as a contract maintenance employee. She's a plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit accusing the city of operating an illegal "debtors' prison."

National

Lawsuits Target 'Debtors' Prisons' Across the Country

11:33am October 22, 2015

by Joseph Shapiro

Civil rights lawyers are challenging the use of court fines and fees against people who can't afford to pay. This week's ACLU suit against Biloxi, Miss., is the sixth such case since September.

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Alan Oates was exposed to herbicides, such as Agent Orange, while serving in Vietnam in 1968. Decades after returning home, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, and because Congress passed the Agent Orange Act, he's able to receive VA benefits.

Can The Agent Orange Act Help Veterans Exposed To Mustard Gas?

11:03am July 16, 2015

by Caitlin Dickerson

Just like World War II vets who were exposed to mustard gas during secret chemical testing, Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange had trouble obtaining VA benefits — until they got the law changed.

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National

Senators Call For VA To Explain Why It Couldn't Find Mustard-Gassed Veterans

10:32am July 02, 2015

by Caitlin Dickerson

A dozen senators have also called on the Veterans Administration to say why some of the WWII-era troops who were found by an NPR Investigation were denied benefits.

OSHA Launches Program To Protect Nursing Employees

3:06pm June 29, 2015

by Daniel Zwerdling

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will begin enforcing safe patient handling practices to prevent hospital workers from suffering debilitating injuries.

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NPR Investigations Research Librarian Barbara Van Woerkom "took it as a challenge."

National

How NPR Located More Veterans Exposed To Mustard Gas Than The VA

4:24pm June 26, 2015

by Caitlin Dickerson

NPR Researcher Barbara Van Woerkom used documents and public databases to find 1,200 vets who participated in World War II secret chemical experiments. The Department of Veterans Affairs found 610.

American Red Cross News Conference In Haiti Grows Heated

1:36pm June 12, 2015

by Laura Sullivan

The Red Cross had the opportunity to explain how it spent almost half a billion dollars — but provided journalists with few answers.

NPR Red Cross Investigation Prompts Call For A Congressional Hearing

10:52am June 12, 2015

by Brian Naylor

The joint NPR/ProPublica probe found that the charity raised nearly half a billion dollars after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti but has little to show for it.

Feds Probe Failure To Collect Mine Safety Penalties After NPR Report

2:55pm May 14, 2015

by Howard Berkes

The Labor Department's investigation follows an NPR/Mine Safety and Health News series about the failure of federal regulators to collect millions in safety penalties at the nation's mines.

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National

Federal Judge Says South Dakota Officials Violated Native American Families' Rights

10:33am April 14, 2015

by Laura Sullivan

Two of the state's largest tribes win class action lawsuit alleging that the state routinely put their children in foster care without due process

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