Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.
Journal Revamps Whistleblower Policy After Alzheimer's Debacle
Whistleblowers raising concerns about the integrity of journal publications will be asked to disclose potential conflicts of interest when making claims, according to Nature.
Last year, four whistleblowers complained to JCI and other journals about what they said were doctored images and data in a number of published papers, some of which were related to simufilam, an experimental Alzheimer's drug from Cassava Sciences.
In an editorial, JCI editor-in-chief Elizabeth McNally, MD, PhD, wrote that what she didn't know at the time was that the whistleblowers were short-selling Cassava stock. McNally alleged the authors profited when the stock price of Cassava dropped 55% after they complained to the journals, including JCI, and filed a petition with the FDA.
The whistleblowers "deny any wrongdoing and stand by their allegations, with three saying that they made only relatively small amounts of money from trading Cassava stock," according to Nature.
Journals have retracted at least five papers over these concerns, Nature reported, including two of the three papers that bolstered simufilam. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the matter.
Maternity Services Cut Where They're Most Needed
Hospitals that were already pressed for resources have continued to close...
A slew of NYPD officers recounted on Sunday horror stories from their careers in which they say they were falsely accused of sexual misconduct and, despite being exonerated, had the allegations sh...