Recently, Dr. Jon Sudboe, 44, was informed by the Oslo Cancer Treatment Center, where he worked, that he had fabricated data to obtain research publications on oral cancer published in the medical journal The Lancet in the UK.
According to his defense attorney, Erling Lyingtveit, he also admitted to falsifying data in two articles published in American journals – The New England Journal of Medicine and The Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Reputable journals in the medical field can sometimes be… fooled! In the image: The covers of the specialized journals to which Sudboe submitted his fabricated research papers. |
In The Lancet, Sudboe claimed that prolonged use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin had preventive effects against oral cancer but also increased the risk of heart disease.
The reality is that these studies were based on the observation of 908 individuals, of whom 250 had the same birth date. Attorney Lyingtveit explained that Sudboe’s actions were not motivated by money, but rather by a desire to contribute something meaningful, driven by a need for recognition and glory.
In an article published in the April 2004 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, Sudboe asserted that the removal of the first cancer cells in the oral cavity had no effect on the mortality rate of patients. Regarding this claim, Sudboe admitted that he did not have suitable data on mortality rates.
In another American journal, The Journal of Clinical Oncology, published in March 2005, Sudboe claimed that it was possible to calculate the probability of heavy smokers developing oral cancer.
On this point, Sudboe acknowledged that he had fabricated blood sampling cases of patients to determine whether they had further exposure to smoking.
Over the past decade, Sudboe has published 38 articles in international journals. Although only three of the aforementioned articles were based on fabricated data, this is sufficient to assess the lack of integrity of this professional.
Moreover, Sudboe’s fabrication of data and the presentation of unfounded claims have dealt another blow to the credibility of specialized scientific journals, which had already been shaken by the recent Hwang-Woo-Suk scandal in South Korea.
