This story is a collaboration between CBC News and the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF).
A celebrated Vancouver researcher used fabricated data and hid evidence of infected wounds to falsely claim his patented skin treatment could heal years-old bed sores in a matter of weeks, according to a leaked report.
If these results had been real, a product known as Meshfill would have been "close to miraculous" for people with spinal cord injuries, according to one expert. But investigators say they weren't real, and the public was never informed about an investigation that uncovered numerous examples of misconduct during a clinical trial for the liquid skin substitute.
The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and CBC News have obtained a 64-page report about University of British Columbia (UBC) plastic surgery professor Aziz Ghahary's actions during a pilot study for Meshfill. It lays out how he presented falsified results to the public on several occasions, violated conflict of interest guidelines and was even accused of bullying by another researcher.
The March 2021 document, which was written by a UBC-appointed investigative committee of three outside experts, says Ghahary "abandoned his scholarly integrity in his pursuit of his attempt to establish that Meshfill should be used as a treatment for chronic pressure ulcer wounds" — also known as bed sores....
Georgia-based medical practices and a whistleblower reached a settlement in a False Claims Act suit accusing the defendants of engaging in a kickback scheme by relying on services from laboratorie...