Stole Millions of Federal Research Dollars
Did Incalculable Damage to the Cause of Scientific Research
Provided False Testimony
Influenced Witnesses to Provide False Documents
Fled to Canada
Threatened to Sue a Whistleblower
Boston Globe Called it “The Worst Case
Of Scientific Fakery to Come to Light in Two Decades”
The above list is by way of reminding you what Dr. Eric Poehlman, who used to be a powerful medical school professor at the University of Vermont, did.
He almost got away with it, too. The lab assistant who told on Poehlman
says that at least four University of Vermont researchers told him privately that they had concerns as well about some of Poehlman's work. However, no one else had spoken up to university authorities. "I was in a unique position to act. …I did not rely on Dr. Poehlman for funding, a post doc [research position], or a salary." …The University of Vermont took [the] accusations seriously, he said, but he quickly realized the difficulty of being a whistle-blower against someone as powerful as Poehlman. [Boston Globe]
Now he’s up for sentencing, and thinks he shouldn’t have to go to jail:
A former University of Vermont professor convicted of research fraud has asked a judge for leniency.
In a letter to the court last week Eric Poehlman said he has been punished enough by the consequences of his decision to fabricate research and should not have to serve time in jail.
Poehlman said his actions have cost him his job and relationships with friends and colleagues and ruined his national reputation.
"I have not only already been severely punished in a way that sends a clear message to the scientific community and the community at large, but have sharpened my focus on community service," Poehlman wrote to U.S. District Judge William Sessions III. "I hope you will conclude that the goals of sentencing in my case can be met without imposing a term of jail."
Poehlman, who was employed at UVM from 1987 to 1993 and as a tenured professor from 1996 until he retired from the College of Medicine in 2001, is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday. He faces up to five years in prison, three years on supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
Poehlman wants the judge to impose a sentence of probation and community service.
He is accused of requesting $11.6 million in federal funding for 17 grants using false data.
In April he agreed to plead guilty to fabricating research data to obtain a $542,000 grant from the National Institute of Health. As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors do not plan to seek additional charges.
The case is the most serious incident of scientific misconduct in this country in more than 20 years, officials have said.
It is the first time a researcher has been permanently barred from ever receiving federal research grants again.
In the letter to the judge, Poehlman said he fabricated data so that he would have a better chance of winning grants. He also said he wanted to excel as a scientist.
"When I falsified data, I convinced myself that it was acceptable," he wrote. "My remorse is profound and impossible to express in words."
Poehlman lost his job as a professor at the University of Montreal when the Vermont allegations were discovered. Since then he has been working as an elementary and high school teacher.
To the clink, I think.
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