Bob Grant, writing for the-scientist.com, reports that renal disease researchers Judith Thomas and Juan Contreras falsified data and lied about methodology in 16 publications and several grant applications over the past eight years while they were at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Thomas and Contreras falsely claimed they performed double kidney removals on monkeys during the testing of two immunosuppression drugs.
Instead of following the protocol of removing one of the monkeys’ kidneys, replacing it with a transplant, starting the immunosuppression drugs, and then removing the remaining native kidney, the researchers failed to remove the second native kidney, falsely making the immunosuppression drugs appear significantly more effective than they really were. More than US$23 million in funding for the Thomas and Contreras research came from the National Institutes of Health.
Thomas initially claimed that Contreras perpetuated the fraud on his own, but the university’s investigation revealed that Thomas actively participated in the fraud.
Thomas will be unable to receive US government funding or advise the US Public Health Service for 10 years. Contreras will be unable to receive US government funding or advise the US Public Health Service for three years.
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