[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 4, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 42380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-19975]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Scientific Misconduct

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity 
(ORI) has made a final finding of scientific misconduct in the 
following case:
    Deborah Arenburg, University of Maryland: Based on a report dated 
December 23, 1998, by the University of Maryland Investigation 
Committee, Ms. Arenburg's admissions, and information obtained by ORI 
during its oversight review, ORI finds that Ms. Arenburg, former 
Research Associate, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of 
Maryland, engaged in scientific misconduct arising out of certain 
biomedical research supported by National Institute of Mental Health 
(NIMH), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants.
    Specifically, Ms. Arenburg was responsible for administering and 
scoring neuropsychological, neurological, and cognitive tests on 
patients during the course of two studies. These studies were entitled 
``Neural Basis of the Deficit Syndrome of Schizophrenia'' (Study No. 1) 
and ``Clozapine Treatment of Schizophrenic Outpatients'' (Study No. 2) 
and were supported by the above-referenced grants. ORI finds that Ms. 
Arenburg failed to conduct the required tests on three patients in 
Study No. 1 and on ten to twelve patients in Study No. 2. Instead Ms. 
Arenburg fabricated the experimental records for those tests. Ms. 
Arenburg admits to fabricating the data.
    The fabricated data was included in a publication, ``Association 
Between Eye Tracking Disorder in Schizophrenia and Poor Sensory 
Integration,'' American Journal of Psychiatry 155(10):1352-1357, 1998. 
The principal investigator on the grants at issue reanalyzed the 
research data, eliminating all data produced by Ms. Arenburg, and found 
no significant difference in the results. A correction, including the 
reanalyzed data, was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry 
156(4):603-609, 1999.
    Ms. Arenburg has accepted the ORI finding and has entered into a 
Voluntary Settlement Agreement with ORI in which she has voluntarily 
agreed, for the three (3) year period beginning July 15, 1999:
    (1) To exclude herself from serving in any advisory capacity to the 
Public Health Service (PHS), including but not limited to service on 
any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as 
a consultant; and
    (2) That any institution that submits an application for PHS 
support for a research project on which her participation is proposed 
or which uses her in any capacity on PHS supported research, or that 
submits a report of PHS-funded research in which she is involved, must 
concurrently submit a plan for supervision of her duties to the funding 
agency for approval. The supervisory plan must be designed to ensure 
the scientific integrity of Ms. Arenburg's research contribution. The 
institution also must submit a copy of the supervisory plan to ORI.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Acting Director, Division of Research 
Investigations, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 
700, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.
Chris B. Pascal,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 99-19975 Filed 8-3-99; 8:45 am]
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