Institution will pay $10M to settle research claims

Brigham and Women’s Hospital and its parent company, Partners HealthCare, will pay $10 million to settle allegations that one of its researchers fabricated research data in applications for federal research grants.

“Individuals and institutions that receive research funding from NIH have an obligation to conduct their research honestly and not to alter results to conform with unproven hypotheses,” said acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb. “Medical research fraud not only wastes scarce government resources but also undermines the scientific process and the search for better treatments for serious diseases.”

Three Brigham researchers, Dr. Piero Anversa, Dr. Annarosa Leri and Dr. Jan Kajstura, used fake lab results in order to get key funding from the National Institutes of Health for stem cell research, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Authorities allege the research lab used improper protocols, inaccurately characterized cardiac stem cells and “reckless or deliberately misleading” records.

Brigham investigated the fraud allegations and relayed its findings to authorities.

“The lab has been closed, and the lab’s leaders are no longer with the institution,” Brigham said in a statement. “BWH is committed to ensuring that research conducted at the institution is done under the most rigorous scientific standards, and has made significant enhancements to research integrity compliance protocols as a result of this event.”

Anversa and Leri have claimed the hospital led a witch hunt and opened an investigation without merit or evidence that data had been fabricated. They have denied faking data.