---
title: "List of scientific misconduct incidents"
chunk: 4/9
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scientific_misconduct_incidents"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:29:35.678731+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Krishna Murthy (US), a protein crystallographer and former research associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was found in 2009 by a University committee to be "solely responsible for ... fraudulent data" on protein structures published in nine papers. In 2018 the United States Office of Research Integrity placed a 10-year ban on Federal funding for Murthy. As of 2020 ten of Krishna Murthy's publications have been retracted, and two others have received an expression of concern. Haruko Obokata (Japan) formerly of RIKEN and Harvard University, falsified data in the widely publicized STAP cell fraud. As of 2021, Obokata has had four of her research publications retracted. Luk Van Parijs (US), Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) fabricated and falsified data in research papers, unpublished manuscripts, and grant applications. He was convicted in 2011 of making a false statement on a federal grant application. Parijs has had five research publications retracted. Milena Penkowa (Denmark), a neuroscientist and former professor at the Panum Institute of the University of Copenhagen, was in 2010 convicted of fraud and embezzlement of research funds, and in 2012 was found to have committed "deliberate scientific malpractice". In 2017 the University of Copenhagen revoked Penkowa's doctoral degree. As of 2020 Penkowa has had nine of her research publications retracted, and four others have received an expression of concern. Eric Poehlman (US), a former Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Vermont, was convicted in 2005 of grant fraud after falsifying data in as many as 17 grant applications between 1992 and 2000. He was the first academic in the United States to be jailed for falsifying data in a grant application. Poehlman has had seven of his publications retracted. Don Poldermans, a researcher at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. published studies from 1999 until the early 2010s claiming that Beta blocker should be administered before certain surgeries. European medical guidelines (and to a lesser extent US guidelines) recommended the practice during the years 2009 to 2013, guiding millions of surgeries. A 2012 inquiry found that he "used patient data without written permission, used fictitious data and… submitted to conferences [reports] which included knowingly unreliable data." Poldermans admitted the allegations. A 2014 meta-analysis reported that beta blockers increased mortality risk by 27 percent within 30 days of surgery. Anil Potti (US), a former Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, engaged in scientific misconduct "by including false research data in ... published papers, [a] submitted manuscript, [a] grant application, and the research record." Potti's misconduct resulted in the suspension of three clinical trials based on his research and a lawsuit filed against Duke by patients enrolled in those studies. As of 2021 Potti has had 11 of their research publications retracted, and one other paper has received an expression of concern. Jonathan Pruitt (US, Canada), a behavioral ecologist formerly at McMaster University, has been accused of using fabricated data in several research publications, with a group of over 20 scientists finding evidence of manipulated or fabricated numbers in several of Pruitt's publications. In 2021 Pruitt had his doctoral dissertation withdrawn by the University of Tennessee Knoxville. As of 2024 Pruitt has had 16 of his research publications retracted, 11 other papers have received an expression of concern, and four other papers have been corrected. Didier Raoult (France), a physician and microbiologist formerly at Aix-Marseille University, was accused of illegally conducting clinical experiments without proper approval from his university's ethics committee., and several of his publications have been reported for concerns of image duplication and image fabrication. As of 2026 Raoult has had 48 of his research publications retracted, making him the 12th most retracted scientist in the world  Another 156 of his publications have received an expression of concern. Scott Reuben (US), a former Professor of Anesthesiology at Tufts University, falsified and fabricated clinical trials involving painkiller medications. Reuben pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of health care fraud and was sentenced to six months in prison. As of 2023 Reuben has had 25 of his research publications retracted. Steven S. Rosenfeld (US), a former Harvard undergraduate, forged letters of recommendation for himself in the name of David Dressler, whose laboratory he used. His research on transfer factor, on which two articles were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and one article in Annals of Internal Medicine, could not be successfully replicated by other scientists. Alfred Steinschneider (US), a medical doctor formerly based at Upstate Medical University, in 1972 developed the theory, published in the journal Pediatrics that SIDS was caused by prolonged sleep apnea, although none of his research or research conducted subsequently by others supported the theory. The case-study upon which Steinschneider's theory was based was later revealed to involve infanticide committed by the mother, with Steinschneider allegedly having ignored evidence and reports that the children were being abused. In 1997 the editor of Pediatrics, Jerold Lucey, stated that Steinschneider's original paper on the subject was "seriously flawed" and should not have been published. Marc Straus (US), former Chief of Oncology and Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University Medical Center, in 1982 admitted to "serious deficiencies", including the use of false data, in research studies he supervised. He also admitted to using ineligible patients in his studies, administering drug dosages different from those in his plan, and not assuring compliance with rules of informed consent. Jon Sudbø (Norway), an oncologist and former Associate Professor at the University of Oslo, was found in a 2006 investigation to have manipulated and fabricated data in grant applications and 15 of his research papers. As of 2023 Sudbø has had 14 of his publications retracted, and one other publication has received an expression of concern. William Summerlin (US), a dermatologist formerly at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in 1974 committed scientific misconduct in his work on transplant immunology. It was from this case that the phrase "painting the mice" originated as a synonym for research fraud. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a neuroscientist, was the President of Stanford University. In 2022, the Stanford board of trustees opened an investigation into allegations that Tessier-Lavigne might have been involved in fabricating results in articles published between 2001 and 2008, when he was working at Genentech. In July 2023, the trustees' report was released, finding that in several papers he co-authored "there was apparent manipulation of research data by others." Tessier-Lavigne then announced that he would be stepping down as president of Stanford, effective August 31, 2023. As of 2024, Tessier-Lavigne has had four research publications retracted, and five others have received an expression of concern. Andrew Wakefield (UK), a former surgeon and senior lecturer at the Royal Free Hospital in London, was found guilty of dishonesty in his research on the MMR vaccine and banned from medicine by the UK General Medical Council following an investigation by Brian Deer of the Sunday Times.