CBS News’s Jim Axelrod and producer Emily Rand are being honored with the George Polk Award for Television Reporting for the investigative series on compounding pharmacy fraud.
The stories, which aired on CBS This Morning and on the CBS Evening News, uncovered pharmacies peddling unproven pain creams and supplements, which they billed to Medicare and even private insurance for thousands of dollars each. CBS News’ reporting led to a congressional investigation and legal action by federal law enforcement and the Department of Justice.
The radio program “This American Life” and journalists from New York Magazine, the Washington Post, ProPublica, the New York Times, Tampa Bay Times, and Huffington Post are also being honored with Polk Awards.
The team behind the documentary Cartel Land, including former ABC News ep Tom Yellin, are being honored for their film which follows vigilante groups battling drug cartels in Mexico.
97-year-old Simeon Booker of Jet Magazine is being honored with the Polk career award.
The Polk Awards, administered by Long Island University, are in memory of George Polk, a CBS News correspondent murdered in 1948 while covering the civil war in Greece.