Norwegian Cancer Expert Faked Patient Data

A cancer expert at the Norwegian Radium Hospital faked the identity of patients for a trial involving the treatment of oral cancer, it has emerged. "The material was fabricated," said Trine Lind, spokeswoman for the hospital. "We are shocked. This is the worst thing that could happen in a research institution like ours."

She admitted that Dr Jon Sudbo falsified data involving patients and their case histories in an article about oral cancer that appeared in the October 2005 of the Lancet. Norwegian daily Dagbladet reported that 250 patients in the given sample of 968 had the same birthday. A colleague had raised questions about the veracity of the given data and when Sudbo was confronted this week, he admitted to faking the important data. The hospital also said that they would be reviewing the case and a panel would examine the reasons behind Dr Sudbo's actions. The Radium Hospital has stopped Dr Sudbo's other research projects and was mulling on whether he should continue to treat patients. Also two other articles authored by him, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, would be reviewed. In the current article, it was claimed that a particular drug would reduce the risk of developing oral cancer.