The BMJ has an excellent short article on the issue BMJ 2012;344:e2898 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e2898. The answer seems to be yes, but the degree to which data manipulation takes place is hotly disputed. Given the pressure on physicians to publish their work, I suppose it’s not so surprising that some medics have been observed cooking their data. It would be naive to think this problem is confined to medicine. However, it’s “reassuring” to see that physicians are as human as the rest of the scientific community. There will be a tendency to view it as an individual problem (i.e., a few rotten apples in the barrel), but it might be more interesting to ask what organisational elements combine to make research misconduct appealing?
I too think doctors sometimes falsify research results. Its really difficult to understand their Psychology.
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