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Researcher Jailed for Falsifying Research

Caldeso writes "For the first time in U.S. history, a researcher has received jail time for falsifying research data to obtain federal grants. Eric Poehlman pled guilty to defrauding the government to the tune of nearly 3 million dollars by changing and making up research and was sentenced to a year in a federal prison work camp and a lifetime ban on further federal grants."

5 of 195 comments (clear)

  1. Fair pay... by NewToNix · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "a year in a federal prison work camp and a lifetime ban on further federal grants."

    I think I could tough that out for 3 million...

  2. I don't get it... by CherniyVolk · · Score: 5, Insightful


    OK, let me get this straight.

    Defraud the government, with devious intent, for a tune of 3 million USD and receive a 1 year sentence in a work camp.

    Copy a movie and get fined up to 250,000 dollars and face upto a 10 year sentence? After, getting beaten up by people who dress like cops but aren't, in public?

  3. Re:Funny thing by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But Lay and a number of the very wealthy CEOs who stole BILLIONS will get 6 months to maybe several years at a very easy going federal prison. Amazing. It is all who you know.

    Seeing as how neither Skilling nor Lay have yet to be sentenced, I'm presuming that you're getting your info from your palantir. What did The Eye tell you about revealing such info to mere mortals, hmmm?

    Either that, or you're completely ignorant and don't know what the hell you're talking about.

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    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  4. Fair Punishment 'coz Fake Medical Research Kills by reporter · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The key quote from the article states, " Poehlman, a specialist in exercise physiology, changed and made up research in applications and papers on the effect of menopause on women's metabolism, the impact of aging on older men and women, the impact of hormone replacement therapy on obesity in post-menopausal women, the study of metabolism in Alzheimer's patients and the effect of endurance training on metabolism. "

    Based solely on this quote, we can conclude that faking the results of medical research could potentially kill people. Faking research about a new method for vectorizing signal-processing algorithms might result in a poorly performing compiler for a multiprocessor. Faking research about a medical therapy might result in real people being subjected to a lethal cocktail of drugs.

    The doctor who faked the results of his medical research deserved prison time. For once, justice was served.

  5. Restitution, not prison... by SonicSpike · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Non-violent offenders such as this guy should not go to jail. They should be held accountable for their actions through financial restitution.

    "Nearly six out of every ten federal prison inmates are there for non-violent drug-related offenses, it's clear that drug prohibition is the primary source of this over-crowding. It has been estimated that every drug offender imprisoned results in the early release of one violent criminal, who then commits an average of 40 robberies, 7 assaults, 110 burglaries and 25 auto thefts

    We should dramatically reduce the number of these early releases by eliminating their root cause - prison over-crowding.

    Restitution, even if enforced through court action, deters criminals and decreases the necessity of actually going to court. Japan, which has such a system in place, is the only industrialized nation that has seen a consistent decrease in violent crime since World War II. Litigants normally come to a settlement before coming in front of the judge, so very little time is spent in court.

    Why should victims have to pay taxes to feed, clothe, and shelter those who harmed them? Why should criminals get a free ride at the further expense of their victims?

    People have a right to their life, liberty and property. Anyone who takes these away has an obligation to restore them as much as possible. Such restitution will not always be perfect, but the punishment fits the crime much better than today's system does.

    In addition, restitution is a more effective deterrent than prison. During informal surveys, inmates claimed that they much preferred jail time, which they saw as 'time off,' than restitution, which they saw as 'work.

    Restitution through productive work is the most successful rehabilitation known. Even if the victim can't be fully compensated, something is better than the nothing that they receive today. Also, repayment to the victim allows criminals to truly right their wrongs. "

    http://www.theadvocates.org/ruwart/categories_list .php

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    Libertas in infinitum