[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19438-19439]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9619]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Scientific Misconduct

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity 
(ORI) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in 
the following case:
    Atsushi Handa, M.D., Ph.D., National Institutes of Health: Based on 
the report of an investigation conducted by the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH) and additional analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight 
review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Atsushi Handa, 
M.D., Ph.D., former visiting

[[Page 19439]]

fellow in the intramural program of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
Institute (NHLBI), NIH, engaged in scientific misconduct by falsifying 
and fabricating data published in two publications.
    Specifically, PHS found that Dr. Handa:
    (1) Fabricated or falsified the following data in a paper published 
in J. Gen. Virol. 81:2077-2084, 2000: (A) Data for the AAV-3 construct 
for days 2, 5, and 7 and data for the AAV-2 construct for days 5 and 7 
in Table 1; (B) day 2 data in Table 2; and (C) Figure 4; and
    (2) Falsified the following data in a paper published in J. Gen. 
Virol. 81:2461-2469, 2000: (A) Figure 3; and (B) data in Table 2; 
retracted at J. Gen. Virol. 82:2837, 2000.
    These actions were serious because the purported findings on the GV 
virus C/hepatitis G and AAV-2 viruses could have had major impact in 
areas such as hepatitis research and gene therapy.
    Dr. Handa has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement in which 
he has voluntarily agreed:
    (1) To exclude himself from any contracting or subcontracting with 
any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility for, or 
involvement in, nonprocurement transactions (e.g., grants and 
cooperative agreements) of the United States Government as defined in 
45 CFR part 76 (Debarment Regulations), for a period of five (5) years, 
beginning on April 4, 2002;
    (2) To exclude himself from serving in any advisory capacity to 
PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory 
committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant, for 
a period of five (5) years, beginning on April 4, 2002; and
    (3) To submit a letter of retraction to the editor of the Journal 
of General Virology identifying the missing data as well as the 
falsified or fabricated data in Figure 3A and Table 2 of the paper 
published in J. Gen. Virol. 81:2461-2469, 2000, within 30 days of the 
effective date of this Agreement. This retraction requirement will 
remain on the ALERT System until Dr. Handa sends, and ORI receives, a 
copy of the retraction letter that is consistent with the above 
language.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative 
Oversight, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 700, 
Rockville, MD 20852. (301) 443-5330.

Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 02-9619 Filed 4-18-02; 8:45 am]
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