The Examination

María Pérez

Senior Reporter

María Pérez is a senior reporter.

María has covered issues affecting immigrant communities for USA Today, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Naples Daily News, and El Nuevo Herald, winning the 2017 George Polk Award for her investigation into Florida companies that profited from undocumented workers and, once they were injured, reported them to prosecutors instead of paying workers compensation.

She’s also reported on cosmetic surgery clinics where dozens of patients died or got injured. María lives in New York. Ella habla español et se débrouille en français.

Latest

The Examination

How industry capture of Filipino officials helped deadlock global tobacco control negotiations

A presidential agenda, pro-industry proposals and a probe — documents reveal Big Tobacco’s influence in the Philippines and on the international stage.

May 6, 2025
Flavored vaping e-cigarette products

Mass firings hit US tobacco regulators overwhelmed with thousands of new products

The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, which is not taxpayer-funded, oversees an industry whose products kill nearly half a million Americans each year.

February 28, 2025
The Examination

Fruity ‘click’ cigarettes a hit with Latin American teens amid ‘constant’ industry lobbying

Companies release watermelon Marlboros, blueberry-menthol Luckies despite “smoke-free” promises.

November 21, 2024
The Examination

In battle over e-cigarettes in Latin America, tobacco money quietly at play

Philip Morris International has poured millions into a nonprofit that funds a sprawling network of pro-vaping groups trying to influence laws.

January 16, 2024
The Examination

‘Big Vape’ reporter talks lessons learned from Juul’s rise, fall, and future

We talk to the author of the book behind Netflix’s new docuseries on e-cigarette company Juul about the corporate and regulatory missteps that helped fuel a teen vaping crisis.

October 11, 2023
The Examination

I spent months reading vaping research. Here’s what science does — and doesn’t — say about the risks

As e-cigarette use spreads, the health of millions hinges on getting the answers right.

September 18, 2023