Health is a top priority for most people and so news of alleged health research fraud against a University of Connecticut researcher known for playing up the health benefits of red wine has shaken a lot of people up. Robert Lowes has reported for Medscape Today "Red-Wine Researcher Charged With 'Photoshop' Fraud." According to a 3-year University of Connecticut investigation which was made public Wednesday researcher, Dipak K. Das, PhD, a director of the university's Cardiovascular Research Center (CRC) and a professor in the Department of Surgery, is guilty of 145 counts of fabricating and falsifying data with image-editing software.
It has been stated in a press release that all externally funded research for Dr. Das has been frozen and that the university has turned down $890,000 in federal research grants awarded to him. And the process to dismiss Dr. Das from the university is already underway. Research fraud was said to have been found in 2 dozen published papers dating back to 2002 as well as 3 grant applications by a university special review board (SRB). 11 journals that published the studies of its findings, including The American Journal of Physiology — Heart and Circulatory Physiology and the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, have been notified by the university. Some of these studies asserted that a substance in red wine which is called resveratrol promoted heart health.
Dr. Das has said the accusations against him are part of a campaign to rid the university health center of the "Indian community." He has commented "I became the Devil for the Health Center, and so did all the Indians working for me. The evidence for conspiracy and racial hatred is overwhelming." He has also alleged that the stress of fighting the university administration led to a brain hemorrhage and stroke.
Meanwhile the university review board has stated the findings "point to a pervasive attitude of disregard within the CRC for commonly accepted scientific practices in the publication and reporting of research data. Given the large number of irregularities discovered in this investigation...the SRB can only conclude that they were the result of intentional acts of data falsification and fabrication, designed to deceive." The university has also said as head of the lab and senior author of all but one of the tainted articles, Dr. Das "bears principal responsibility for the fabrication and/orfalsification that occurred."
Photographer: digitalart
