This was widely reported on network news last evening....

[whistle]

...but it actually appeared in print media over three months ago:

<snip>

Former Research Professor Settles Scientific Misconduct Allegations; Pleads Guilty to Making Material False Statements
2005/03/22 -

Burlington, Vermont - March 17, 2005 --The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced today that Dr. Eric T. Poehlman, 49, a former tenured research professor at the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine in Burlington, Vermont, has agreed to a comprehensive criminal, civil, and administrative settlement related to his scientific misconduct in falsifying and fabricating research data in numerous federal grant applications and in academic articles from 1992 to 2002.

According to court documents filed today, Dr. Poehlman has agreed to plead guilty to making material false statements in a research grant application in April 1999, upon which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) paid $542,000 for Dr. Poehlman's research activities. In addition, Dr. Poehlman has agreed to pay $180,000 to settle a civil complaint related to numerous false grant applications he filed while at UVM. In addition, Dr. Poehlman will pay $16,000 in attorney's fees to counsel for Walter F. DeNino, a research assistant whose complaint of scientific misconduct spurred an investigation by UVM. Also, Dr. Poehlman has agreed to be barred for life from seeking or receiving funding from any federal agency in the future, including all components of the Public Health Service, and to submit numerous letters of retraction and correction to scientific journals related to his scientific misconduct. Dr. Poehlman also agreed to be permanently excluded from participation in all Federal health care programs. In these agreements, Dr. Poehlman has admitted that he acted alone in falsifying and fabricating research data and filing false grant applications.

"Preserving the integrity of the grant process administered by the Public Health Service is a priority for the Department of Justice," said United States Attorney David V. Kirby. "This prosecution demonstrates that academic researchers will be held fully accountable for fraud and scientific misconduct. Dr. Poehlman fraudulently diverted millions of dollars from the Public Health Service to support his research projects. This in turn siphoned millions of dollars from the pool of resources available for valid scientific research proposals. As this prosecution proves, such conduct will not be tolerated."

Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Cristina V. Beato, M.D., acknowledges the "invaluable assistance of the Department of Justice in bringing this case to a conclusion and upholding the high standards for research integrity in research supported by the Public Health Service." HHS actions against Dr. Poehlman include a life time debarment from receiving Public Health Service research funds and an agreement to retract or correct ten scientific articles due to research misconduct. Dr. Beato added that "while criminal charges against research scientists are rare, the egregiousness of Dr. Poehlman's conduct in this case fully supports the actions of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the administrative actions taken by HHS." Through ORI, HHS is authorized to investigate and oversee institutional investigations of allegations of research misconduct in order to protect the integrity of Public Health Service funded research.

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<link> http://www.npicenter.com/anm/anmviewer.asp?a=12012&print=yes

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't pharmaceutical companies do this sort of thing all the time with their research?