[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 211 (Wednesday, October 31, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 54999]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27365]


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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:
    Mr. Sherman Smith, University of California at San Francisco: Based 
on the report of an investigation conducted by the University of 
California at San Francisco (UCSF) and information obtained by ORI 
during its oversight review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) finds 
that Mr. Smith, former research technician, Division of Occupational 
and Environmental Medicine at UCSF, engaged in scientific misconduct by 
intentionally and knowingly fabricating and falsifying patient 
interview data as the sole interviewer in the PHS-funded UCSF Asthma 
Disability Study (Asthma Study). The UCSF Asthma Study was funded by 
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institutes 
of Health (NIH), grants K04 HL03225, R01 HL56438, and R29 HL48959, and 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers 
for Disease Control (CDC), grant R01 OH03480.
    Specifically, Mr. Smith intentionally falsified and fabricated the 
interviews of 107 patients in the Asthma Study. The falsification of 
the patient interviews was committed with an intent to deceive. This 
deception, in turn, had a material, negative impact on the Asthma Study 
in particular and on asthma research in general. The falsified and 
fabricated data were reported in ten publications, and fellow members 
of the Asthma Study Team had to spend over two years correcting the 
research data and were required to submit retractions or corrections 
for all ten publications produced by the study.
    PHS has implemented the following administrative actions for the 
five (5) year period beginning October 9, 2001:
    (1) Mr. Smith is prohibited from serving in any advisory capacity 
to PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory 
committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant.
    (2) Mr. Smith is debarred from eligibility for, or involvement in, 
nonprocurement transactions (e.g., grants and cooperative agreements) 
of the Federal government and from contracting or subcontracting with 
any Federal government agency as defined in 45 CFR part 76 (Debarment 
Regulations).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Research 
Investigations, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 
700, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.

Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 01-27365 Filed 10-30-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P