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Animal Ethics Biosafety Human Research Ethics Research Integrity

Scientists Allege Researcher Faked Reproductive Health Data Across Dozens of Papers – Jezebel (Caitlin Cruz | August 2022)

Posted by Dr Gary Allen in Research Integrity on October 5, 2022

The Linked Original Item was Posted On August 9, 2022

A red ink stamp for fraud alert.

“We’re talking about families who lose their mother, who lose their baby because of this problem,” one accuser told Jezebel.’

A doctor responsible for more than 50 papers on reproductive health issues—including chronic hypertension in pregnancy, drug treatment during preterm labor, and heart disease—has likely faked the data behind the studies, according to a group of scientists in the field. Even worse, some of that work has made it into trend studies in major American scientific journals that influenced clinical care.

When fabrication and falsification of data leaks into professional practice it can impact on humans (such as clinical care) it is a big deal that we all should be concerned about. Institutions should respond especially harshly if a researchers misconduct could result in harm to patients or others community users of professional services. This is likely to include all clinical trials and all clinical research. Distortion of professional practice should be a factor that is considered when evaluating the severity of the misconduct.

Drs. Ben Willem Mol (of Monash University in Australia), Dr. Lyle Gurrin (of University of Melbourne), Francis Gitahe Muriithi (of University of Birmingham UK), and Jim Thornton allege that 51 papers authored by Dr. Mohamed Rezk of Menoufia University, in Egypt, don’t hold up to scrutiny and likely constitute data fabrication. The group published its allegations in a paper submitted for preprint in Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics. “We’re talking about families who lose their mother, who lose their baby because of this problem,” Mol, the lead author, told Jezebel via Zoom.

Rezk is already known in academic fraud research circles. His name is connected to eight papers listed in Retraction Watch’s database, half of which were retracted. Retraction Watch is an independent blog that tracks scientific fraud, fabrication and, of course, retraction. If all Rezk’s 51 accused papers were retracted, he’d make into the site’s top 10 worst offenders. The doctor did not respond to Jezebel’s email requests for comment.

This group of scientists say they’ve found evidence of falsification of data across Rezk’s work. The problems alleged by the group are best illustrated by two studies Rzek authored or co-authored. Each paper is about a randomized clinical trial (the gold standard for testing drug efficacy) that studies mild to moderate chronic hypertension in pregnancy, a condition affecting upwards of 20% of pregnant women.

Scientists Allege Researcher Faked Reproductive Health Data Across Dozens of Papers
“We’re talking about families who lose their mother, who lose their baby because of this problem,” one accuser told Jezebel.

Related Reading

Who Cares About Publication Integrity? – Scholarly Kitchen (Andrew Grey, et al | August 2022)

Retracted papers are used in clinical guidelines – how worried should we be? – The Conversation (Jonathan Livingstone-Banks | August 2022)

Unethical studies of ivermectin for covid-19 (Editorial: Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, et al | April 2022)

(US) Blood, Lies, and a Drug Trials Lab Gone Bad – WIRED (Brendan I. Koerner | October 2021)

(US) Data Corruption: DOJ Targets Fraud In Medical Research Trial In The Era Of COVID-19 – JDSUPRA (Jessica Heim, et al | March 2021)

(Algeria) New measures for fighting scourge of academic fraud – University World News (Wagdy Sawahel | February 2021)

(US) Miami doctor pleads guilty to falsifying clinical trial data for asthma medication – Miami Herald (Jay Weaver | January 2021)

(Australia) Michael Briggs 1935-1986. Faked data on the safety of oral contraceptive preparations taken by millions of women – Dr Geoff (December 2017)

It’s Time to Get Serious About Research Fraud – UnDark (Dalmeet Singh Chawla | July 2020)

(UK) Questionable activities of UK company Celixir, by Patricia Murray – ForBetterScience (Leonid Schneider | July 2019)

Figure errors, sloppy science, and fraud: keeping eyes on your data (Papers: Corinne L. Williams, et al | March 2019)

Evidence based medicine manifesto for better healthcare – The BMJ (Carl Heneghan et al | June 2017)

Allan and Richard Smith discuss misconduct and fraud in clinical research – The Business of Discovery (Audio interview: Professor Allan Gaw | February 2017)

Fraud by bone researcher takes down two meta-analyses, a clinical trial, and review – Retraction Watch (Victoria Stern | April 2017)

Why research integrity isn’t just “somebody else’s problem” – LSTM Seminar Series (Webinar: Elizabeth Wager | October 2016)

Fake ethics journal aids cheating scientists – Ottawa Sun (Tom Spear: September 2016)

Macchiarini scandal: overstepping the research ethics mark – Euroscientist (Sabine Louët Sepember)

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