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Pauline Bartolone's Blog
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California’s drug price initiative: Will voters ‘send a signal to Washington’?
California's Prop 61 faces strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, which has poured... more »
posted 11/07/16
Have high-cost drugs left the state of California scrambling?
California says the expense of new hep C drugs has nothing to do with who is prescribed them. But... more »
posted 12/04/15
When Isolation Hinders Health: Reporting in Rural California
When I left for a week of reporting in rural California in late February, I didn't know I would... more »
posted 04/27/12

Pauline Bartolone's Work
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Lesson: Getting to the bottom of Calif.’s drug-spending increases means overcoming data hurdles

The secretive world of pharmaceutical pricing is mired in opacity. To investigate how pricey drugs are impacting California’s budget, reporter Pauline Bartolone found she had to be creative, flexible and persistent in her data sleuthing.

Project: Would a California ballot measure cut drug costs? Nobody knows

What looks like a straightforward framework to protect California’s budget from escalating drug costs has policy experts perplexed, and potential allies on the sidelines.

Project: What's California's prescription for rising drug costs?

Despite recent cost-cutting measures, California’s spending on pharmaceuticals has gone up, and so has the number of pricey drugs it is covering. It’s not clear state agencies have the means to balance drug cost pressures with the best interests of patients, taxpayers and public health.