Panel for Research Integrity

The new UK Panel for Research Integrity in the Health and Biomedical Sciences began operation on 12th April. The remit is to combat fraud in the health and medical sciences.

Professor Michael Farthing, of St.George's medical school, and the pro-VC of medicine of the University of London, chaired the planning committee, and has said some pretty robust things about supporting whistleblowers, particularly in light of the case of Dr. Aubrey Blumsohn, in which a senior Sheffield University academic was suspended from his job (which he has subsequently left) after highlighting concerns about the conduct of a drug study.

Sir Ian Kennedy, a medical ethics expert, will chair the board. Sir Ian has already described some university procedures for investigating misconduct as 'completely unequal to the task', 'not fit for purpose', and 'pitiful', so we can be confident that the Panel will take their role seriously.

The intial proposals for the panel are documented here, and it looks like a really positive move. Many critics of health research, rightly or wrongly, are very fond of throwing allegations of unethical practise at research they don't like, and this may help counter that.

So saying, Dr. Peter Wilmshurst of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, an eminent cardiologist and member of the initial consultation panel, has expressed concerns about the panel operating under the auspices of UUK - arguing that UUK often has a vested interest in suppressing issues that are heavily critical of universities.