The FDA lets ‘risky drugs’ into the U.S. market, ProPublica reporter explains their investigation

The vast majority of drugs prescribed in the United States, including antidepressants, antibiotics, and sedatives, are generic drugs, many of which are manufactured in overseas factories. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with enforcing drug safety standards and regulations, a ProPublica investigation found that many drugs still made it to the U.S. despite not meeting those standards. In this episode, George Headley speaks with Northwestern professor and ProPublica reporter Debbie Cenziper , who, alongside a team of reporters including her students, published a series of stories about the FDA’s oversight of international drug companies. The team spent 14 months investigating the agency and found that it had allowed more than 150 drugs in the U.S. that should have been deemed too risky for distribution.

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The FDA lets ‘risky drugs’ into the U.S. market, ProPublica reporter explains their investigation is an episode from How to Cover Money by BizJournalism.

This episode is 15:27 long.

This episode was published on Jul 17, 2025.

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