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Cancer Researcher Admits to Faking Data

 


wowz
Quote:
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Norwegian cancer researcher has admitted fabricating data published in a renowned international medical journal, officials in Norway said Saturday.

The researcher at Norway's Comprehensive Cancer Center, who was not identified, used faked patient data in an article on oral cancer published in the October 2005 issue of The Lancet, Britain's leading medical journal, said Stein Vaaler, strategy director for the cancer center.

The article claimed that a certain kind of drug decreased the risk of getting oral cancer and referred to results seen in patients in two national databases, Vaaler said in an interview.

A colleague raised questions about the article when it was published, and when the researcher was confronted this week about the data, he acknowledged the fabrication, Vaaler said.

"All of it was fabricated," Vaaler said. "It was not manipulation of real data _ it was just complete fabrication."

The Washington-based journal Science announced Thursday that it was unconditionally retracting two papers by South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk, who publicly apologized for faking data that purported to show the creation of stem cells from the world's first cloned human embryos.

Vaaler said the center has informed The Lancet about the fabrication, and an external review committee will examine the researcher's methods and his previous publications.

A decision about whether the researcher should be fired will be made after the review committee issues its report, Vaaler said.

"This is a very serious situation for the hospital," the center's director, Aage Danielsson, said in a letter to colleagues that was posted on the Web site of The Norwegian broadcaster TV2.

There was no immediate reaction from The Lancet.

-comcast news (The Associated Press)

And we've probably all heard about the stemcell/cancer research that was faked by the leading scientist in that department - he didn't even clone the dog like he said. Now my question is.. why?

But then they go out and decide they're gonna do something like this for real:
Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three pigs that "glow in the dark".

Right, so I have to ask.. where are your priorities?
blackheart
It disgusts me that anyone would compromise a research's credibility, no-matter what the possible gain of the lie may be.
biga57
Well, not all scientists are really "pure" as they want to appear.

Greed and will to emerge amongst others at any cost are, unfortunately, quite common defects found in some scientists.

I mean, if you span the scientific word , for every subject , from Chemestry to history, to mathematics, music even , arts ....you always find someone who historically had tried to take advantage exploiting his "unquestionable " position.

Scientists are not any better than ordinary men sometimes..
Tiger
biga57 wrote:

Scientists are not any better than ordinary men sometimes..


Only sometimes? Unfortunately the desire for recognition and grant money overtakes the need for real science and fraud is committed. In the case of this Norwegian scientist, it's interesting that he committed the particular fraud to prove that a particular drug was effective in reducing oral cancer.

One wonders where the pharmaceutical companies stand in all this? Pay a researcher to prove your product is better than others? I'm sure it happes every day. The same with food additives such as colourants, flavourants, etc.

The other night I was watching a program about forensic science, and in two different cities in the US, forensic scientists (both female), were responsible for hiding or manipulating forensic evidence, including DNA tests, which resulted in innocent people landing up in prison. In one case, the scientist had been doing so for a few years.

I think that when scientists go so far as to endanger lives with their deception and fraud, they should be locked away for life.

Genetically modified foods are another area of concern.
memsa
The "publish or perish" nature of all academia today is sacrificing quality for quantity and encouraging fraudulent activitty. This , however, has always been part of academic life and probably always will. It just would be nice if the focus on quality not amount or rate of publication could be restored.
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