Years of Ethics Charges, but Star Cancer Researcher Gets a Pass; New York Times, March 8, 2017

James Glanz and Agustin Armendariz, New York Times; 

Years of Ethics Charges, but Star Cancer Researcher Gets a Pass

"‘A Tremendous Conflict of Interest’

Within the realm of biomedical science, it falls to the Office of Research Integrity to issue formal findings of scientific misconduct, which can lead to suspension of federal financing and effectively end a research career. The office labors under an awkward constraint: It does not carry out its own investigations, but relies on accused researchers’ own institutions to forward their findings.

With their own reputations on the line, institutions “have a tremendous conflict of interest,” said Dr. Richard Smith, former editor of The British Medical Journal and a founding member of the Committee on Publication Ethics in Britain. “There’s a terrible temptation to bury it all,” he added.

There are also dollars at stake. Of the $29.1 million Dr. Croce has received in federal funding as a principal investigator while at Ohio State, university records show, $8.7 million has gone directly to the university in overhead payments, a fairly standard cut for research institutions."