@MaxBlau

Investigative reporter with @ProPublica's South bureau, covering health care, public health, and the environment. Find me at https://xitter.cf/t.co/dZD0qea563

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Joined May 2009
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I’ve reported at length about abuses of foreign farmworkers who come to the U.S. on H-2A visas: stolen wages, guns pointed in their faces. One woman I met was kidnapped, raped and nearly killed. I wanted to know: How do I tell if the produce I buy is part of the problem? 👇
Blueberries beginning to ripen in a field in Georgia. Credit: Zaydee Sanchez for ProPublica.

ALT Blueberries beginning to ripen in a field in Georgia. Credit: Zaydee Sanchez for ProPublica.

A trove of passports that federal prosecutors say had been confiscated illegally from farmworkers by labor contractors. Obtained by ProPublica.

ALT A trove of passports that federal prosecutors say had been confiscated illegally from farmworkers by labor contractors. Obtained by ProPublica.

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My colleagues and I at @Propublica are looking into the ways health insurers’ use of prior authorization — the extra layer of approval insurers require before covering a medical expense — impacts patients. We need your help. 👇 propublica.org/getinvolved/p…

We’re Investigating Prior Authorization. Help ProPublica Understand Your Health Insurance Denial.

ProPublica is looking into the ways health insurers’ use of prior authorization impacts patients. We need your help to figure out if the process is still leading to delayed or missed treatments,...

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Max Blau (maxblau.bsky.social) retweeted
Tiffany Griffith@NewsFromTiffanySep 16
On today's #CloserLookWABE with @WABERoseScott: After suing the state for public records, @ProPublica Investigation Reporter @MaxBlau shares what #Georgia paid a contractor to carry out one execution. Learn more at 12pm & 8pm EST on @WABENews 90.1 FM #deathpenalty #crime
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As Georgia plans for its first execution in two years, a trove of new records provides us w/new information — and raises new questions — about its lethal injection process. I spoke w/@11AliveNews about the docs: youtube.com/watch?v=MVj1wn62… Here's my story: propublica.org/article/georg…

Secrecy surrounds execution witness details

11Alive's Doug Richards examines what will and won't be known about...

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Georgia is planning for its first execution in two years this month. But how the state carries out the death penalty is largely a secret. I’ve obtained records that provide new information — and raise new questions — about its lethal injection process. 🧵 propublica.org/article/georg…

This State Is Spending More on Lethal Injections. A Law Tries to Keep the Details Secret.

As Georgia plans for its first execution in two years, a trove of records provides us with new information — and raises new questions — about the state’s lethal injection process.

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The state’s Corrections Department and attorney general’s office declined to comment on this story. Here’s what they had to say in the past.
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If you’d like to speak with me about Georgia’s lethal injection process, please reach out at [email protected].
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Instead, you’d have to embark on a maddening quest, like I did, to find the source of your grocery store blueberries. H/T to @zisiga_m (design), Mauricio Rodríguez Pons (videos) and Shoshana Gordon (visuals): projects.propublica.org/blue…

Do My Grocery Store Blueberries Come From Farms Where Workers Were Harmed?

Max Blau spent a year reporting on abuses of farmworkers. It left him wondering: Is the produce he buys at the grocery store part of the problem?

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I reached out to 75+ blueberry brands, grocery stores, fast-food chains, farmers, trade groups and labor contractors while reporting this series. Only one brand responded. Here’s what it had to say:
Article excerpt summarizing responses ProPublica received. Dole wrote in a statement that it requires contract farmers to comply with labor laws to protect “worker welfare.” Dole added it can trace berries back to the farms where they came from but that it has not made that information available to consumers. ProPublica did not receive responses from over 30 of America’s largest grocery and fast-food chains about why they haven’t joined the Fair Food Program or expanded their limited participation; over two dozen trade groups also declined to talk about why so few farmers participate in the program. Some have opposed efforts by regulators to enact protections like the ones that the program requires. They said the changes would “burden the whole industry for a few bad apples” who disregarded the rights of workers.

ALT Article excerpt summarizing responses ProPublica received. Dole wrote in a statement that it requires contract farmers to comply with labor laws to protect “worker welfare.” Dole added it can trace berries back to the farms where they came from but that it has not made that information available to consumers. ProPublica did not receive responses from over 30 of America’s largest grocery and fast-food chains about why they haven’t joined the Fair Food Program or expanded their limited participation; over two dozen trade groups also declined to talk about why so few farmers participate in the program. Some have opposed efforts by regulators to enact protections like the ones that the program requires. They said the changes would “burden the whole industry for a few bad apples” who disregarded the rights of workers.

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