Fraud in Medical Research: an International Survey of Biostatisticians

Fraud in Medical Research: An International Survey of Biostatisticians

Final Paper

Fraud in the scientific community is thought to be rare. The public seems to view this phenomenon much like the criminal system views serial killers; they are incredibly dangerous, but very rare. From the deliberate falsification of data, to the exclusion of ‘inconvenient data, to events far less sinister like mismeasuring, or linking unrelated phenomenon; fraud has many faces, and unfortunately, from the data I have acquired, fraud in the research community may be a far more common occurrence than most allow themselves to believe. Experts, in general, seem to be failing ‘us’ at every end of the professional spectrum; from psychiatrists only supporting drugs which they are tied to financially, to economic and real estate gurus telling the country that there is no impending crisis (or that there wasn’t anything to worry about prior to 2008, before the collapse), to even biological engineers who completely falsify their data and report it is authentic, setting their own field back by years. Experts, scientists, professionals, and other ‘credible’ people that the ‘common man’ listens to are often taken at their word. Most of us would not disagree with a doctors diagnosis, nor would we argue with a mechanic who said we needed a particular part replaced on our car; and yet, people would be amazed at how many experts disagree with one another, make completely incorrect claims (either maliciously or because they think they are right), or are just plain wrong. This study, which focuses on fraud in the medical research field, is just one of many studies out there that bring up a very important question that constantly gets ignored: why do our ‘experts’ keep failing us?

This particular study led by Dr. Jonas Ranstam and published in 2000, begins by noting the increase in public awareness regarding scientific fraud since the late 1980s. The history of fraud, including the previous...