Deception at Duke: Fraud in cancer care? [View all]

[lostincalifornia]

Last edited Fri Aug 15, 2025, 11:14 AM - Edit history (1)

"Chemotherapy can be a tough road for people with cancer, often debilitating and even dangerous. Which is why five years ago, when Duke University announced that it had an advanced, experimental treatment that would match chemotherapy to a patient's own genetic makeup, it was hailed as the holy grail of cancer care. The scientist behind the discovery was Dr. Anil Potti, and soon Dr. Potti became the face of the future of cancer treatment at Duke, offering patients a better chance even with advanced disease. However, when other scientists set out to verify the results, they found many problems and errors. What our 60 Minutes investigation reveals is that Duke's so-called breakthrough treatment wasn't just a failure -- it may end up being one of the biggest medical research frauds ever.

The following is a script of "Deception at Duke" which aired on Feb. 12, 2012. Scott Pelley is the correspondent. Kyra Darnton, producer.

Five years ago, Duke University announced it had found the holy grail of cancer research. They'd discovered how to match a patient's tumor to the best chemotherapy drug. It was a breakthrough because every person's DNA is unique, so every tumor is different. A drug that kills a tumor in one person, for example, might not work in another. The research was published in the most prestigious medical journals. And more than a hundred desperately ill people invested their last hopes in Duke's innovation.

In 2010, we learned that the new method was a failure. But what isn't widely known, until tonight, is that the discovery wasn't just a failure, it may end up being one of the biggest medical research frauds ever - one that deceived dying patients, the best medical journals and a great university."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deception-at-duke-fraud-in-cancer-care/

Some may ask why is this story being posted that occurred so long ago in 2012?

For one thing I thing many are unaware of this story.
Stat+ has highlighted this story the last two days and has pointed out that this story and others are being used by the administration to justify cuts to reseach, and discredit "all scientific research endeavors", at the expense of the public good, to advance their only special interests:

https://www.statnews.com/2025/08/13/duke-cancer-research-fraud-mit-potti-kornbluth/

"The Trump administration has pointed to a rash of scientific misconduct scandals to justify cuts to research funding and proposals to reimagine the way science is conducted. Top officials, including director of the National Institutes of Health Jay Bhattacharya and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have questioned the ability of peer-reviewed journals to enforce high standards by researchers and adhere to scientific objectivity. Others, including Vice President JD Vance, have cast universities as cynical institutions that advance their own interests at the expense of the public good.