Menopause Doc Fudged Data
BURLINGTON, Vt., June 21, 2005
Millions of women have taken hormone therapy, only to learn in recent years that its health benefits were never proved and there were risks involved instead.
Now it turns out a key researcher who touted the benefits of hormone replacement is facing a five year jail term, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
Dr. Eric Poehlman was renowned for his groundbreaking research on women and menopause. He theorized that menopause makes women lose muscle and gain fat, and causes health problems hormones could help fix.
His work was considered so significant it prompted doctors to prescribe hormones for years - a treatment now called into question because of its health risks.
"Dr. Poehlman was a mentor to me in many ways," said Walter DeNino, Poehlman's research assistant at the University of Vermont.
But he discovered a dark side to his mentor, Attkisson reports.
It turns out menopausal women weren't deteriorating the way Poehlman thought they would in his study.
"In some cases, some patients improved in terms of heart disease risk and energy expenditure," DeNino said. "After menopause."
But the idea of healthier women after menopause jeopardized the foundation of Poehlman's work, so he did the unthinkable: he fabricated the data to make it fit his theory.
-snip-
After reading this story, I have been wondering how many other researchers have fudged, fiddled and fabricated data to fit their pet theory, esp if there is serious money involved.
BURLINGTON, Vt., June 21, 2005
Millions of women have taken hormone therapy, only to learn in recent years that its health benefits were never proved and there were risks involved instead.
Now it turns out a key researcher who touted the benefits of hormone replacement is facing a five year jail term, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
Dr. Eric Poehlman was renowned for his groundbreaking research on women and menopause. He theorized that menopause makes women lose muscle and gain fat, and causes health problems hormones could help fix.
His work was considered so significant it prompted doctors to prescribe hormones for years - a treatment now called into question because of its health risks.
"Dr. Poehlman was a mentor to me in many ways," said Walter DeNino, Poehlman's research assistant at the University of Vermont.
But he discovered a dark side to his mentor, Attkisson reports.
It turns out menopausal women weren't deteriorating the way Poehlman thought they would in his study.
"In some cases, some patients improved in terms of heart disease risk and energy expenditure," DeNino said. "After menopause."
But the idea of healthier women after menopause jeopardized the foundation of Poehlman's work, so he did the unthinkable: he fabricated the data to make it fit his theory.
-snip-
After reading this story, I have been wondering how many other researchers have fudged, fiddled and fabricated data to fit their pet theory, esp if there is serious money involved.
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