Having looked over the case studies of research misconduct published by the ORI (Office of Research Integrity)[i], I was struck by how few cases have resulted in lifetime consequences for the perpetrators. According to the Administrative Action Report[ii], only four researchers have received lifetime sanctions by the ORI. These lifetime sanctions included: “debarment from eligibility to receive Federal funds for grants and contracts,” and “prohibition from service on PHS [Public Health Service] advisory committees, peer review committees, or as consultants”[iii]. The sometimes heinous crimes of these four individual included:
Criminally negligent homicide (via the altering of medical records to indicate patients were eligible for experimental drug studies for which test results indicated they were ineligible), fraud, and making false statements on a Federal employment form --> The perpetrator was sentenced to imprisonment for 71 months and to pay $639,000 in restitution to the VA (Veterans Affairs) and two pharmaceutical companies[iv].
Submitting 17 grant research proposals (requesting approximately $11.6 million in federal research funding, of which $2.9 million was secured) containing false and fabricated data, using this false/fabricated data in the publication of 10 papers between 1992 and 2002 pertaining to three longitudinal studies, and also giving false testimony and destroying evidence --> The perpetrator was sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months and required to pay roughly $200,000 in restitution[v].
Falsifying and fabricating data associated with 49 federal grants worth over $82.8 million—data that was included in 39 published papers, 3 manuscripts, and 2 research records—as well as embezzling research funding --> The perpetrator’s institution had to pay $112.5 million in settlements to the U.S. government[vi].
Falsifying and fabricating research in a federal grant application, falsifying the progress report for the awarded grant, and publishing numerous research articles using this false data[vii]. --> Aside from ORI debarment, I could not find records of any other legal consequences.
Considering the nature of the crimes committed by these individuals, I am not at all surprised that their punishments included the lifetime bans imposed by the ORI in addition to the jail-time and/or financial remuneration. What struck me was how few of the researchers had lifetime debarment from Federal funding and PHS advisory positions (only 4 or the 32 listed cases). I can see why the other researchers may not have received criminal charges. However, when scrolling through the case studies and seeing the lists of falsified data and figures, I’m surprised that more of these researchers did not receive lifetime debarment.
Research misconduct is defined as "fabrication, falsification or plagiarism in proposing, performing or reviewing research, or in reporting research results... not [including] honest error or differences of opinion"[viii]. Essentially, fabrication is making stuff up; falsification is manipulating, omitting, or changing results so that they misrepresent the actual findings; and plagiarism is laying false claim to someone else’s ‘intellectual property’[ix]. While I can see why cases of non-extreme plagiarism may have resulted in sentences such as being banned and/or only being able to conduct research under supervision (which sounds like ‘research parole’) for a few years, I would have thought cases of data fabrication or falsification would have unilaterally resulted in lifetime bans from federal funding.
References
[i] “The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) oversees and directs U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) research integrity activities on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This includes oversight of research misconduct inquiries and investigations, as well as of institutional compliance. Organizationally, ORI is located within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).” (https://ori.hhs.gov/frequently-asked-questions#1)
[ii] https://ori.hhs.gov/ORI_PHS_alert.html?d=update (retrieved Feb. 18, 2020) [iii] https://ori.hhs.gov/administrative-actions [iv] https://ori.hhs.gov/case-summary-kornak-paul-h; https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/nyregion/abuses-endangered-veterans-in-cancer-drug-experiments.html; https://www.the-scientist.com/news-analysis/fraud-earns-researcher-time-in-jail-48058 [v] https://ori.hhs.gov/press-release-poehlman; https://www.nature.com/articles/434424a; https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/magazine/22sciencefraud.html; https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2006/06/poehlman-sentenced-1-year-prison [vi] https://ori.hhs.gov/content/case-summary-potts-kant-erin-n; https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/whistleblower-sues-duke-claims-doctored-data-helped-win-200-million-grants; https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2019/11/government-report-duke-researcher-faked-data-funding-erin-potts-kant; https://www.npr.org/2019/03/25/706604033/duke-whistleblower-gets-more-than-33-million-in-research-fraud-settlement; https://businessnc.com/deceit-at-duke-how-fraud-at-a-university-research-lab-prompted-a-112m-fine/ [vii] https://ori.hhs.gov/case-summary-sudbo-jon; https://www.nature.com/articles/439248b [viii] https://ori.hhs.gov/frequently-asked-questions#5 [ix] https://www.research.vt.edu/content/dam/research_vt_edu/research-integrity/files/misconduct-brochure.pdf