Author

Marty Schladen
Marty Schladen has been a reporter for decades, working in Indiana, Texas and other places before returning to his native Ohio to work at The Columbus Dispatch in 2017. He's won state and national journalism awards for investigations into utility regulation, public corruption, the environment, prescription drug spending and other matters.
U.S. Supreme Court justices take lavish gifts — then raise the bar for bribery prosecutions
By: Marty Schladen - April 27, 2023
Justice Clarence Thomas might be the most egregious when it comes to taking gifts and not disclosing them, but he’s not alone. His colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court also haven’t been shy about taking fancy freebies from rich people — many of whom have an interest in the actions of the court. The justices […]
Affidavits: More pregnant minors who were raped denied Ohio abortions
By: Marty Schladen - September 22, 2022
At least two more minors made pregnant by sexual assault were forced to leave Ohio to avoid having their rapists’ babies, according to sworn affidavits filed by abortion providers. The affidavits were filed in Cincinnati as part of a lawsuit aimed at stopping enforcement of Ohio’s strict new abortion law, which it temporarily did last […]
Arrest confirms Indiana abortion for Ohio 10-year-old
By: Marty Schladen - July 13, 2022
The arrest presumably provides the proof of the girl’s existence that Ohio Republicans have been saying they haven’t been able to find.
Deep inside the gun bill: a break for drug middlemen
By: Marty Schladen - June 23, 2022
Many Americans across the political spectrum are clamoring for federal action on guns in the wake of a mass shooting at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, a Buffalo, N.Y., grocery store and hundreds of other places. But buried in a bipartisan compromise hashed out by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday is an unrelated provision they […]
Feds to probe drug rebates blamed for higher prescription prices
By: Marty Schladen - June 21, 2022
The Federal Trade Commission last week announced what some observers believe could be a game-changer when it comes to the rising cost of prescription drugs. The agency — which is meant to protect fair competition — said it would look into the murky practice by which drugmakers grant rebates and other fees to insurer-owned pharmacy […]
CVS sometimes forces people to use its pharmacies. Now the Supreme Court will weigh in.
By: Marty Schladen - November 8, 2021
It’s a practice long complained of in Ohio. CVS Health and other massive corporations often use their pharmacy middleman subsidiaries to force people to get the most expensive class of drugs from the businesses’ own mail-order pharmacies. Some call the practice “patient steering.” CVS and companies such as UnitedHealth and ExpressScripts/Cigna say the arrangements save […]
Fear of losing unemployment benefits pervades the United States
By: Marty Schladen - July 31, 2020
Congress is continuing to squabble over whether to extend a federal supplement to unemployment insurance and if they do, by how much. But as they argue over whether to continue the supplement at $600 a week or some fraction of that, out-of-work Americans are left to worry whether they can survive on state benefits that […]