Organ Failure
A Crucial Link in the Nation’s Organ Donation Process Is Failing
Regulators allowed many organ procurement nonprofits to falter—and now states are battling over scarce organs
Malena Carollo
Investigative Reporter
Malena Carollo investigates broken systems and wrongdoing.
Her most recent investigation found that a sweeping change to an algorithm deciding who gets a life-saving liver transplant hurt patients in several poorer, more rural states in the South and Midwest. Other states, however, benefited significantly—including several whose transplant leaders orchestrated the change behind the scenes. The investigation was copublished with The Washington Post.
Her previous work prompted an investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s office into an auto lender’s predatory practices, highlighted a state-sanctioned loan program saddling homeowners with significant debt, and showed that Florida’s largest power company was among the deadliest for customers. Her work was the basis for an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
Malena mentors other journalists through the Investigative Reporters & Editors program with Journalism Mentors.
She earned her master’s degree at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she studied investigative and data reporting and practical digital security. When she isn’t working, she enjoys hiking. She is based in Florida.
Organ Failure
HHS Plans Breakup of Organ Transplant Monopoly
The move would disrupt the influence of contractor UNOS, whose control of organ sharing has been nearly all-encompassing for decades
Organ Failure
How a Group of Health Executives Transformed the Liver Transplant System
Hospitals in New York and California engineered a policy shift that let them source livers from hundreds of miles away
Organ Failure
Poorer States Suffer Under New Organ Donation Rules, As Livers Go to Waste
Life-saving liver transplants have plummeted in some Southern and Midwestern states with higher death rates from liver disease, while New York and California have made big gains
Show Your WorkOrgan Failure
How We Investigated UNOS’s Liver Allocation Policy
We found that new requirements led to plummeting transplants in some poorer states while New York and California saw big gains
Locked Out
The Markup’s Work Cited in Effort to Outlaw Discriminatory Algorithms
Investigation on tenant screening used to illustrate needed reforms
Denied
Legislators, Regulators Call for Additional Scrutiny of Mortgage-Lending Industry After Markup Investigation Finds Disparities
Minnesota attorney general warns lenders: Don’t be surprised if you’re investigated
Locked Out
Federal Agency Recommends Changes in Tenant Screening, Citing Investigation by The Markup
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau advised screening agencies to stop error-prone practice
Locked Out
Senator Calls for Review of Powerful Tenant Screening Industry
The move comes after a Markup and New York Times series revealed screening agencies relying on faulty information to deny people homes
Denied
Markup Investigation Cited by Officials in Announcing New Mortgage Discrimination Enforcement
The multi-agency effort will target redlining—including digital redlining through black-box algorithms
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