245 - Star botanist likely made up data about nutritional supplements, new probe finds
Science.org 11 JUN 2024 BYCHARLES PILLER
https://www.science.org/content/article/star-botanist-likely-made-data-about-nutritional-supplements-new-probe-findsAfter 2022 exoneration,
fresh inquiry concludes Steven Newmaster fabricated data that questioned quality of echinacea, ginkgo, and other substancesAfter the Canadian government asked for a new misconduct probe, the University of Guelph (UG) has come to a much more damning conclusion about its star botanist, whose research upended the nutritional supplement industry. An initial UG probe had cleared Steven Newmaster, but a second panel of investigators has found “with high probability” that the scientist engaged in “data fabrication and falsification,” failed to acknowledge sources of data, and mismanaged conflicts of interest in three papers. According to a March summary of the investigation obtained by Science, they said Newmaster made numerous “false or unsupportable statements” and showed “disrespect for science communication.”
In 2013, Newmaster and colleagues had used DNA barcoding—.......—to verify ingredients in echinacea, ginkgo biloba, and other substances with purported health benefits. Their influential paper in BMC Medicine, and subsequent work based on Newmaster’s approach, found that many supplements lacked ingredients listed on their labels and that toxic contaminants tainted others.
Some stores pulled products from their shelves, and several major supplement companies embraced Newmaster’s work, paying large sums for quality testing by companies Newmaster established just prior to the publication of the paper. But in 2021, eight experts in DNA barcoding and related fields accused Newmaster of scientific misconduct. .........
A 2022 Science investigation found evidence of a broader pattern of fabrication and data manipulation in Newmaster’s speeches, teaching, biographical statements, and scholarly writings over 2 decades. Evidence also suggested Newmaster embellished or simply invented findings or accomplishments, as well as claimed credit for work by others.
But that year a three-person UG panel—an economist, psychologist, and veterinary researcher—exonerated Newmaster of misconduct in the three challenged papers. ......
The verdict prompted the accusers to appeal to the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research (SRCR), a Canadian federal agency that oversees scientific misconduct matters that involved government grants. .......
The new UG investigative committee, which included two subject matter experts from other universities, concurred on all concerns in the original complaint except plagiarism. Newmaster, who denied any misconduct in a statement to the university in 2021, did not respond to Science’s requests for comment.
