The growing concern over fraudulent medical research has landed squarely on the national radar screen. There are often debates over published research, of course, as scientists attempt to validate and replicate work - especially potentially groundbreaking work - that captivates the medical community, patients, policymakers and investors.
But you know fraud is getting worse when a blog pops up to cover nothing but retractions in medical journals (see Retraction Watch) and then 60 Minutes pays attention. An episode last night featured the spectacular crash-and-burn incident involving Duke University and Anil Potti, whose worked was touted as a game changer for cancer research.
Interestingly, the scientific papers that Potti published were scoured and skewered, but a Duke committee still determined nothing was out of whack until The Cancer Letter published an item that Potti had a little fib on his resume. Unfortunately, this particular fabrication is what it took to convince enough people that fraud can occur anywhere, even at the best universities. Watch the clip to learn the full story...
12 Comments
This is a big deal. Duke Cancer center is one of the finest in the world.
May I observe that I missed this completely last evening. Thanks Ed for pointing it out.
It's not just Potti, or Duke. The whole concept of using molecular signatures of any kind to do anything beyond the most straightforward of cases (i.e. single gene mutations) is so flawed that everyone should have seen the problems at the beginning.
As long as our great universities permit such fraud and ,when it is unearthed give the offender a tap on the wrist, and as long as the government when presented with similar evidence from pharma sins does the same with fines, the games will go on.
"Let the buyer beware" has never been more apt.
The Cancer letter published a fib which Potti wrote into his resume, but in order to read about it, one has to subscribe to that letter. Can anyone share that info with me?
BTW, I guess you all know that very famous medical centers such as Duke are obviously only as good as their successes with patients.
For me, Duke's an interesting example of somethhing not terrific. At a medical conference in NYCity once, at a Q & A session, I went to the mike to respond to a statement, and a Duke MD/professor physically pushed me away from the mike not permitting me to talk. He knew my subject & didn't like it.
Physically pushed me out of the way. What a guy.
The fib on his resume is mentioned in the 60 Minutes piece - he claimed to be a Rhodes scholar.
The drive to commit fraud is the same in any industry. First there has to be a perceived pressure (like be first in discovery), then an opportunity (as in this case to manipulate clinical data) and finally rationalization (as in curing cancer justifies changing data). This is called the Kressey fraud triangle and is the cornerstone of fraud behavioral study.
Knowing it well made watching the 60 Minutes piece predictable. The scary thing is that it likely goes on more than anyone can imagine. This particular case was shocking because when Duke called in a review board once suspicions were raised on the study theory the revieweds used the researcher's prepared data sets instead of raw data to draw their own conclusions. This error led to the board affirming the tainted findings which prolonged the fraud and damage to patients which included loss of life.
Only the falsified CV item brought the proper attention to bear and the fraud was discovered. Which means that Duke was more offended that a CV item had gotten past them than a major fraud was being perpetrated. The hubris of these organizations is truly tragic.
something unimaginable in research seems to be happening every day these days. THank GOd the research scientists are starting to wake up.
"Which means that Duke was more offended that a CV item had gotten past them than a major fraud was being perpetrated." You confirm the awful truth about the medical "industry." Reputation is far more important than the patient's needs/health. The event at the mike at the medical conf I attended was typical and disgusting, not just because I was physically assaulted (publicly) in order to prevent the expression of my 1st amendment rights, but it was the subject matter about which he wished that I not respond. It seriously involved the patient, and a ballroom full of doctors had exploded in applause at a popular mis-statement of a medical fact, and I wasn't allowed to even speak about it privately afterward.
BTW, the subject was Fibromyalgia. Surprise!
It's not just Duke, but they really looked bad in this piece. I give them credit for cooperating with 60 Minutes, but they should have done more. I can't believe phony is still practicing medicine. I hope his patients all seek a new cancer physician. Once a liar, always a liar.
Medical fraud at universities is becoming the norm. Big Pharma, or whatever you want to call them, inflitrates universities day in and day out. Medical students are culturally influenced from their first days in med school with food, pencils, whatever Big Pharma, is allowed to give them.
Then as Melody Petersen wrote in "Our Daily Meds", residents and fellows learn through osmosis during their residencies how actual doctors take all the gifts, etc and they start to feel entitled, never realizing how they have been corrupted through "neurologic reciprocity".
All it takes is one meal and the deed is done.
As a patient advocate I have been looking at this for several years now. In my opinion, doctors, as a rule, are culturally biased against patients. It's not a pretty picture.
And even when these companies pay billions of dollars to the DOJ as criminal fines, they just keep doing it over and over again.
Who is going to step up to the plate and stop this insanity? Is there anyone really standing up for the safety of patients?
I know I am but there have to be more people doing the right thing to stop what seems to be the blatant criminal activity of these companies.
Even the billions of dollars of fines are not deterrents because pharmaceutical and device company aggregate profits total in the billions each and every year.
Lana Keeton
@Lana - your opinion does not surprise me and I'm sure it is based on facts but patients need to take charge of their health as well. I see it day in and out where patients would rather take a Januvia or a Lipitor rather than improve their diets or start exercising. Doctors are as happy to keep the refills going instead of counseling patients about their lifestyle choices.
I have an outstanding doctor who refuses to write a script without trying lifestyle changes first. I had the start of high cholesterol and would have been able to get Zetia or Vytorin free of charge (employee perk) but he asked me to modify my diet slightly and come back in 3 months. During that time I dropped my cholesterol more than 20 points by making small eating changes and adding a little exercise to my routine.
5 years later and I still don't need any of the drugs used to treat poor lifestyle choices - mostly thanks to my primary doc who refuses to dole them out like candy. Drug companies and doctors play a big part but patients need to be accountable for their health too.