Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Cancer Researcher Resigns Following Plagiarism Investigation, But NEJM Refuses To Retract His Article
The New York Times: Prominent Cancer Researcher Resigns From Dartmouth Amid Plagiarism Charges
One of the country’s most influential researchers in cancer screening has resigned from his post at Dartmouth College, after a two-year internal investigation concluded he had plagiarized a graph included in a paper published in a prominent journal. The researcher, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, has published widely on the risks of aggressive screening and over-diagnosis, including Op-Ed articles in The Times and several popular books. He disputed the university’s findings against him. (Carey, 9/14)
Stat: NEJM Again Refuses To Retract Article Dartmouth Says Is Plagiarized
The New England Journal of Medicine is again refusing to retract an article co-authored by one of the country’s leading health policy scholars even after the researcher resigned his position this week following a misconduct finding last month. As STAT and Retraction Watch reported Thursday, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch resigned from his faculty position at Dartmouth following an internal investigation, which found that Welch had plagiarized material from a Dartmouth colleague and a researcher at another institution for a 2016 paper published in the venerable journal. The paper was an analysis of how breast cancer screening led to the overdiagnosis of tumors and unnecessary treatments. Welch disputes Dartmouth’s conclusions. (Oransky and Marcus, 9/14)
In other health care personnel news —
Stat: Turmoil Erupts Over Expulsion From Leading Evidence-Based Medicine Group
One of the medical world’s most respected expert bodies is in turmoil as its annual meeting gets underway in Edinburgh, Scotland, after its governing board voted to expel a member. The Cochrane Collaboration, which reviews the scientific literature in areas of clinical research and produces widely cited analyses that help guide clinical practice, kicked out a member who has been an outspoken critic of certain vaccines and has blasted the profession of psychiatry for pushing unsafe drugs on unsuspecting patients. (Marcus and Oransky, 9/16)
Modern Healthcare: #MeToo Era Highlights Importance Of Emergency CEO Succession Plans
Healthcare CEOs haven't been bolting under the weight of #MeToo accusations at nearly the same rate as other industries, but the sector is not immune to surprise exits. Athenahealth co-founder and CEO Jonathan Bush, for example, left swiftly in June amid allegations of physical abuse and sexual harassment. But there are other reasons, too. The CEO of PinnacleHealth, currently UPMC Pinnacle, stepped down suddenly last year, reportedly to “seek an alternative career path.” In Ohio, Summa Health CEO Thomas Malone resigned last year, shortly after hundreds of physicians and staff members expressed displeasure with his leadership. (Bannow, 9/15)
