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Nearly a decade after cancer researcher Anil Potti published a much-lauded paper on how to choose the best kind of chemotherapy for individual patients, federal investigators have officially deemed his work a fraud.
In a report published in the Federal Register, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity determined that Potti faked data in nine papers relating to his cancer trials at Duke University.
Potti is one of the most notorious fraudsters in science; he left Duke half a decade ago in the wake of the scandal. But, as BuzzFeed News has reported, the Office of Research Integrity’s wheels turn slowly and inefficiently.
Potti’s claim that he could pick the best chemotherapy for a patient based on their cancer’s genetic signature was first published in Nature Medicine in 2006. Based on this study, Potti’s group launched several human clinical trials. All have since been shuttered. What’s more, several patients from these trials have filed lawsuits against Potti.
It wasn’t long before other scientists started questioning the findings. Then, in 2008, a medical student working in the Potti lab reported his concerns about the research group’s methods to the Duke leadership.
The next year, two statisticians, Keith Baggerly and Kevin Coombes, published a paper questioning the technique the Potti lab was using to decide which patients should get which treatment.
Read full, original post: This Cancer Scientist Faked Tons Of Studies, Say Feds
