Coping with fraud: the Darsee Case.

Culliton reviews major developments in the John Darsee fraud case at Harvard Medical School, from the first known act of fraud to recent evidence that implicates Darsee's earlier work at Emory University and Notre Dame. Darsee's Harvard data were eventually re-examined both by Harvard and by a panel appointed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which had funded much of his research. The NHLBI findings, which were reviewed by senior staff at the National Institutes of Health, faulted the supervisory practices of Darsee's mentor, Dr. Eugene Braunwald. Braunwald acknowledges the need for change but believes that his pattern of supervision is common to many laboratories.