NOT-OD-02-009: FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)
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FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

Release Date:  November 6, 2001

NOTICE:  NOT-OD-02-009

Department of Health and Human Services

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has made a 
final finding of scientific misconduct in the following case:

Mr. Sherman Smith, University of California at San Francisco:  Based on the 
report of an investigation conducted by the University of California at San 
Francisco (UCSF) and information obtained by ORI during its oversight review, 
the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) finds that Mr. Smith, former research 
technician, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at UCSF, 
engaged in scientific misconduct by intentionally and knowingly fabricating 
and falsifying patient interview data as the sole interviewer in the PHS-
funded UCSF Asthma Disability Study (Asthma Study).  The UCSF Asthma Study was 
funded by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National 
Institutes of Health (NIH), grants K04 HL03225, R01 HL56438, and R29 HL48959, 
and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for 
Disease Control (CDC), grant R01 OH03480.

Specifically, Mr. Smith intentionally falsified and fabricated the interviews 
of 107 patients in the Asthma Study.  The falsification of the patient 
interviews was committed with an intent to deceive.  This deception, in turn, 
had a material, negative impact on the Asthma Study in particular and on 
asthma research in general.  The falsified and fabricated data were reported 
in ten publications, and fellow members of the Asthma Study Team had to spend 
over two years correcting the research data and were required to submit 
retractions or corrections for all ten publications produced by the study.

PHS has implemented the following administrative actions for the five (5) year 
period beginning October 9, 2001:

(1)  Mr. Smith is prohibited from serving in any advisory capacity to PHS, 
including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory committee, board, 
and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant.

(2)  Mr. Smith is debarred from eligibility for, or involvement in, 
nonprocurement transactions (e.g., grants and cooperative agreements) of the 
Federal government and from contracting or subcontracting with any Federal 
government agency as defined in 45 C.F.R. Part 76 (Debarment Regulations).

INQUIRIES

For further information contact:

Director
Division of Investigative Oversight
Office of Research Integrity
5515 Security Lane, Suite 700
Rockville, MD  20852
Telephone:  (301) 443-5330
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