Harvard Prof and Cardiologist Fabricated or Falsified Data in 31 Studies

Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital began a review of the work of Dr. Piero Anversa in 2013. In 2014, co-authors who had worked with Dr. Anversa wrote to a journal to complain that the data Dr. Anversa included in the article were not the data they had generated. By 2017, the hospital agreed to pay $10 million to the Feds to settle charges that Dr. Anversa had submitted false data to get research funding. Now, Harvard has notified the publishers of 31 articles by Dr. Anversa needed to be retracted.

Turns out that the doc’s research was bogus. The injection of bone marrow stem cells into hearts does not repair heart damage. The doc had crashed onto the research scene with his study on bone marrow injections into the heart as a means of regenerating tissue. Docs and researchers around the country were trying to duplicate the results and could find no miracle or even movement. When they questioned the studies they were told, “You’re not doing the injections correctly.” No one in the field was ever able to do it right.

Yet, people are still signing up for the program and companies are still selling stem cells. And why did it take so long to get this all out in the open? Some say they wanted to believe. Some say they felt the, “Who I am to question?” syndrome because this was Harvard, after all.

Took almost two decades, but the truth emerged. However, along the way the questions should have been made public. 2013 would have been the latest date, not the earliest for a little candor.

We know about the social science research frauds — are people who ride the subway more likely to make charitable donations and do people who like Popsicles vote independent. Those types of falsified data just fueled discussions and USA Today p. 1A data charts in the lower left-hand corner. These studies put patients at risk, cost millions, and did nothing. Stunning is the only word that comes to mind.

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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