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NPR •

Coastal biomedical labs are bleeding more horseshoe crabs with little accountability

As the horseshoe crab bleeding industry has expanded, coast-wide regulation has been limited and the companies have become increasingly secretive. Records I obtained indicate that in some states, fishermen paid by the bleeding companies have handled crabs in ways that research has shown to cause harm or have violated harvest laws without punishment. Meanwhile, the process of approving the alternative in the U.S. has stalled even as the number of birds in the sky has plummeted.
NPR •

Virginia hid execution files from the public. Here's what they don't want you to see

NPR exclusively published a selection of documents that I managed to photograph at the library before most of them became restricted by the Department of Corrections. The records, which detail responsibilities of staff, include candid photos taken of the prisoners before their deaths and even show the keys to Virginia's electric chair, illustrate how executions were conducted in the state that carried out more than any other.
NPR •

When train crashes leak harmful chemicals, small town firefighters can be vulnerable

Accidents that result in the release of hazardous materials are rare, but when trains do crash, the consequences can be serious. Most of the recent ones that caused evacuations have happened near small communities, my colleague Nick McMillan and I found. Local firefighters who respond are uniquely vulnerable to the effects. But across the country, they are often under-prepared to handle the chemicals when they come off the tracks.
NPR.org •

Carrying out executions took a secret toll on workers — then changed their politics

I spoke with 26 current and former workers who were collectively involved with more than 200 executions across 17 states and the federal death chamber. They were executioners, lawyers, correctional officers, prison spokespeople, wardens, corrections leaders, a researcher, a doctor, an engineer, a journalist and a nurse. Many shared their names and stories publicly for the first time.

And though most of them reported suffering serious mental and physical repercussions, only one person said they received any psychological support from the government to help them cope. The experience was enough to shift many of their perspectives on capital punishment. No one I spoke with whose work required them to witness executions in Virginia, Nevada, Florida, California, Ohio, South Carolina, Arizona, Nebraska, Texas, Alabama, Oregon, South Dakota or Indiana expressed support for the death penalty afterward, NPR found.
NPR •

Vaccines are still tested with horseshoe crab blood. The industry is finally changing

Vaccines are still tested with horseshoe crab blood. The industry is finally changing

Pharmeceutical companies could soon have easier access to synthetic alternatives to horseshoe crab blood, a key ingredient used to test vaccines and medical devices for contamination.

The U.S. Pharmacopeia, the regulatory body in charge of setting national safety standards, announced a proposal on Aug. 22 that would make it simpler for companies to use the alternatives. The new standard, which is expected to
The State •

Laws require language support for students. Many SC districts are ‘exploitative’ instead

Dozens of South Carolina school districts provide unequal educational opportunities to students because of where they’re from, Lucas Smolcic Larson and I showed, after collecting data from an unprecedented survey we sent to all S.C. districts and speaking to graduates. Many districts openly admitted to using bilingual students as translators instead of hiring professionals to interpret for children whose parents don’t speak English. That’s against the law. We worked with a local Spanish language outlet to publish this article in Spanish as well as English, in order to reach as many bilingual readers as possible.
The Guardian •

The US military trained him. Then he helped murder Berta Cáceres

My investigation for The Guardian revealed how a Honduran man who would later be convicted of helping murder environmental defender Berta Cáceres in 2016 was trained and shaped by West Point. The unprecedented look at West Point's little-known international training program raises questions about the schooling provided by the institution to generations of Central American soldiers for more than 200 years, some of whom later became involved with human rights abuses.
The State •

They executed people for the state of South Carolina. For some, it nearly destroyed them.

This story was part of a series that won a 2021 Investigative Reporters and Editor’s Finalist award.

The repercussions of execution work for staff have often been left out of conversations about the death penalty, until now. Over five months, I spoke with 10 people who helped administer executions in South Carolina. The closer they and their families were to the act of killing, the more the men said their jobs caused long-term harm. This investigative feature story represents one of the most detailed, intimate portrayals of execution work in America ever published.
The State •

Here’s what South Carolina doesn’t want the public to know about firing squads and executions

This investigation was part of the series that won a 2021 IRE Finalist award.

My investigation showed for the first time that shortly before state lawmakers approved the firing squad in May, the SC Department of Corrections created confidentiality agreements to suppress information from over 100 employees they said were members of the execution team. Meanwhile, additional documents I revealed showed that the state spent $53,000 on firing squad preparations, but won't reveal the names of vendors or fully describe some items they bought. And they won't provide their execution protocols at all, though most other states consider that public information. The state's secrecy around executions violates state law, media attorneys agree. It could also be a human rights violation.
The State •

State reporter earns a top spot in national competition for science-related coverage

My investigative reporting for WIRED, Scientific American and The State earned second place in the 2021 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award, a national competition for young science journalists.

“Eisner’s investigation on the industrial exploitation of horseshoe crabs is a model of dogged reporting,” the Council for the Association of Science Writers wrote in the announcement of my Honorable Mention. “She won accolades for challenging a powerful company that other journalists have had trouble penetrating.”
WIRED •

Americans Took Prevagen for Years—as the FDA Questioned Its Safety

My investigation for WIRED showed that for years, officials at the FDA questioned the basis for the claims made by the company that manufactures Prevagen, a popular supplement for brain health. Multiple FDA inspections, most of which had not been reported before, found significant issues with the manufacturing processes, complaint handling, and the quality control testing that was supposed to ensure the products were safe.

And thousands of Americans have reported experiencing “adverse events” while taking Prevagen, including seizures, strokes, heart arrhythmias, chest pain, and dizziness, my reporting exposed.
The Marshall Project •

When People with Intellectual Disabilities Are Punished, Parents Pay the Price

A sex offense conviction can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But when the convicted is someone with an intellectual disability, who can’t understand and comply with the rules and restrictions of their sentences, it falls on the guardians to suffer the financial, social and psychological burdens of the crimes. I reported the story for The Marshall Project, and shot the photography.
Ariane Mueller
The State •

Vaccine testing is changing. Why is this $13B lab still bleeding SC horseshoe crabs?

Horseshoe crabs are at least 445 million years old and grow larger in South Carolina than almost anywhere else in America. Since their blue blood can expertly detect a potentially deadly bacterial toxin, for decades, they’ve been bled to help develop safe vaccines. But the process that can harm the animals is no longer needed, some scientists say.

And the company that still bleeds the animals in the state, Charles River Laboratories, has for years presented information to the public that experts say has been misleading and sometimes inaccurate, my investigation for The State Media Co. showed.
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