Morgan's Media Mouth Off

The New York Times' story "From China to Panama, a trail of poison medicine" was about counterfeiters who profit by substituting a poisonous solvent for a safe, more expensive syrup. The lead was superb: "The kidneys fail first. Then the central nervous system begins to misfire. Paralysis spreads, making breathing difficult, then often impossible without assistance. In the end, most victims die. Many of them are children, poisoned at the hands of their unsuspecting parents." This lead really drew me in and made me want to read more. By running this story the Times exposed a deadly coverup and shipping negligence. They discovered that the manufacturer of certain pharmaceuticals were not even authorized to be doing so. They also outted China's poor safety regulations. The bigger picture of global trade was captured very well in this piece. It had a lot of background info. and was well-researched.