There's a lot more money to be made in this sort of biomedical and clinical research, of course, than there is in ecology and evolution. I recently read that the famous other "fake" - the midwife toad, may not have been a fake after all, but don't remember the details at the moment.
> Why, do we continue to see this ticker tape of falsified studies > coming out of the clinical sciences? > The last ecological/evolution study I recall like this was Piltdown Man! > If it is "just human nature" why do we see so few in ecology and > evolution? > I thought this might be a good talking point! :) > > Looking forward to the discussion! > > (oops left off the article! see below!) > Malcolm > >>From the Chronicle of Higher Education: > > Company Says Research It Sponsored at Pitt and Hopkins Was Fraudulent > By Goldie Blumenstyk > Technology-transfer deals at universities can easily go sour, but > rarely do they end up with the corporate partner suing an inventor and > his institution for research fraud. > > The University of Pittsburgh and the Johns Hopkins University now find > themselves in that unusual situation, as a company that says it spent > millions of dollars sponsoring research by a prominent scientist, > expecting to use his promising inventions as the basis for a new test > for prostate cancer, is now accusing the professor and the > institutions of falsifying his results. > > The company, Onconome Inc., says the professor, Robert H. Getzenberg, > lied about his findings and progress from 2001 through 2008. Mr. > Getzenberg has been a professor of urology and director of research at > a urology institute at Johns Hopkins since 2005; previously he held > similar posts at Pitt. He was also a paid scientific adviser to > Onconome. > > Onconome, of Redmond, Wash., was founded in 2001 to turn Mr. > Getzenberg's work into a cancer-detection test. In addition to > financing some of Mr. Getzenberg's research, the company had obtained > licenses from Pitt and Johns Hopkins for rights to commercialize his > research. It says it spent more than $13-million supporting the > research and on licensing fees. > > A Company's Suspicions > As recently as 2007when Johns Hopkins issued a news release about a > study Mr. Getzenberg published in the journal Urology that suggested > his work could produce a better test for prostate cancer than the > existing PSA testthere were no obvious signs of trouble. > > At the time, however, a writer familiar with the biotechnology > industry wrote a commentary questioning the wisdom of John Hopkins's > decision to issue a news release about such preliminary work, noting > that the university's reputation might have given the study more > prominence than it would have otherwise received if only Onconome had > publicized it. > > According to separate lawsuits filed by Onconome against Johns Hopkins > and against Pitt, the company soon after that began to suspect Mr. > Getzenberg's findings because they couldn't be replicated by other > scientists. Onconome, which says investors put money into the company > because they believed in Mr. Getzenberg's findings, is seeking > repayment of its money and other damages. > > Mr. Getzenberg did not return telephone and e-mail messages seeking > comment. Officials at Pitt said they had not yet been served with the > lawsuit, which was filed just days ago in federal court in Pittsburgh, > and declined to comment. > > Johns Hopkins also declined to comment. But it has filed a answer to > the lawsuit, which was filed in state court in July. In its answer, > the university cites a number of defenses, including one that seeks to > bar Onconome's claims because of its "fraud" on the university, on Mr. > Getzenberg, or both. It also says all research was conducted in > conformity with scientific standards. > -- > Malcolm L. McCallum > Associate Professor of Biology > Managing Editor, > Herpetological Conservation and Biology > Texas A&M University-Texarkana > Fall Teaching Schedule: > Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm; > Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm > Office Hourse- TBA > > 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert > 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, > and pollution. > 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction > MAY help restore populations. > 2022: Soylent Green is People! > > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any > attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may > contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized > review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not > the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and > destroy all copies of the original message. >
