Menopause Doc Fudged Data (off topic, kindof)

[Guest guest]

Tonight on the CBS evening news they were discussing a doctor and

his research of lack thereof. I know this has nothing to do with

mold, but it just goes to show that this is happening everywhere.

They said they hope it is an isolated case, but we know it is not.

KC

Menopause Doc Fudged Data

BURLINGTON, Vt., June 21, 2005

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/21/eveningnews/main703359.shtm

l

Dr. Poehlman (Photo: CBS)

" I was outraged. I felt exploited. And I was really amazed that

anyone would be doing something like that. "

Real

menopause study participant

Walter DeNino, Poehlman's research assistant at the University of

Vermont talks with CBS' Sharyl Attkisson. (Photo: CBS)

(CBS) Millions of women have taken hormone therapy, only to learn in

recent years that its health benefits were never proved and there

were risks involved instead.

Now it turns out a key researcher who touted the benefits of hormone

replacement is facing a five year jail term, reports CBS News

Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.

Dr. Poehlman was renowned for his groundbreaking research on

women and menopause. He theorized that menopause makes women lose

muscle and gain fat, and causes health problems hormones could help

fix.

His work was considered so significant it prompted doctors to

prescribe hormones for years - a treatment now called into question

because of its health risks.

" Dr. Poehlman was a mentor to me in many ways, " said Walter DeNino,

Poehlman's research assistant at the University of Vermont.

But he discovered a dark side to his mentor, Attkisson reports.

It turns out menopausal women weren't deteriorating the way Poehlman

thought they would in his study.

" In some cases, some patients improved in terms of heart disease

risk and energy expenditure, " DeNino said. " After menopause. "

But the idea of healthier women after menopause jeopardized the

foundation of Poehlman's work, so he did the unthinkable: he

fabricated the data to make it fit his theory.

DeNino confronted him and turned him in to the university; they

found it wasn't the first time.

Once Dr. Poehlman's fraud was exposed, the horrible implications

were clear. Years of research which doctors relied on to treat

menopausal women were now in serious doubt.

The case was referred to U.S. Attorney Kirby.

" I think the scope of the wrongdoing in the case made it criminal, "

Kirby told Attkisson.

It was also criminal because Poehlman had used $2 million in

government grants – taxpayer money - for studies to perpetrate his

fraud.

Real was in one of those faked studies. Back then, she was a

bodybuilder entering menopause and, by volunteering for Poehlman's

research, was hoping to " make a difference. " Now, she knows she

didn't.

" I was outraged. I felt exploited. And I was really amazed that

anyone would be doing something like that, " Real said.

Dr. Poehlman pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and faces up to

five years in prison.

As for his one-time protégé, he's applying to medical school.

" I would like to think Dr. Poehlman is more or less an isolated

case, " DeNino said.

DeNino wants to become a researcher in his own right - he just no

longer hopes to follow Poehlman's path.