Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / UBC professor fabricated research study results, according to leaked report

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UBC professor fabricated research study results, according to leaked report · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: This is a story about a plastic surgeon who claimed
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to have invented but would have amounted to a miracle
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: cure for a devastating skin condition, but in reality, the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: data behind it was allegedly fabricated and infections on human
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: trial subjects hidden. Doctor Aziz Gahari, a UBC researcher, invented
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: a liquid skin substitute called Meshvil. He said it could
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: cure chronic pressure ulcer wounds, known more colloquially as bed sores.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: They can affect people who use wheelchairs, people with diabetes,
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  Speaker 1: and anyone who spends a lot of time in a
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  Speaker 1: hospital bed, and once you get one, they're really painful,
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  Speaker 1: very hard to treat, and can stay with you for years.
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  Speaker 2: It would be close to miraculous.
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  Speaker 3: Really, pressure injuries have the biggest impact on quality of
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  Speaker 3: life of any of the complications common to people with
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  Speaker 3: spinal cord injuries.
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  Speaker 1: Meshvil promised to cure years old sores in just two weeks,
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  Speaker 1: but the research told a.
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  Speaker 2: Very different story.
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  Speaker 1: This document shows the University of British Columbia knew all
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  Speaker 1: of this, but never told the public about what happened,
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  Speaker 1: even after promoting the product themselves. We know this because
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  Speaker 1: CBC News and the Investigative Journalism Foundation obtained a copy
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  Speaker 1: of this document a sixty four page investigation into plastic
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  Speaker 1: surgeon Aziz Gahari and his product, mesh phil. The investigation
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  Speaker 1: into the research was done by an outside panel of.
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  Speaker 2: Experts hired by UBC.
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  Speaker 1: It found these false claims gave patience and funders false
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  Speaker 1: hope by falsely claiming that Meshvil had quickly healed chronic
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  Speaker 1: pressure ulcer wounds. He also potentially endangered the health of
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  Speaker 1: future human trial subjects when doctor Gahari falsely claimed that
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  Speaker 1: there had been no adverse effects during the pilot's study.
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  Speaker 1: The results of this investigation were never made known to
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  Speaker 1: the public until now. Gahari quietly retired from his job
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  Speaker 1: at UBC shortly after the investigation was complete. He declined
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: our request to sit down for an interview. His lawyer
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  Speaker 1: said this wasn't by choice, that he is legally bound
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  Speaker 1: by confidentiality obligations that prevent him from commenting on the
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  Speaker 1: matters you have raised, even to defend himself.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: That experts who reviewed the report for.
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  Speaker 1: US said this kind of academic misconduct is serious.
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  Speaker 3: The findings of the report are extremely serious. There are
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  Speaker 3: a lot of things that go on with this pilot
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  Speaker 3: study that simply shouldn't happen.
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  Speaker 1: So what exactly went wrong with this study? The report
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  Speaker 1: points to a number of things. The team set out
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  Speaker 1: to find twelve spinal cord patients to test mesh phil.
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  Speaker 1: When they couldn't find patients that fit that profile, the
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  Speaker 1: study was expanded to patients suffering from surgery wounds. A
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  Speaker 1: nurse working on the study recorded official measurements to see
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  Speaker 1: if the wounds were shrinking. The UBC investigation found that
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  Speaker 1: Gahari and his lab team recorded their own measurements of
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  Speaker 1: the patient's wounds.
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  Speaker 2: Even visiting one of them at home.
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  Speaker 1: This went against the approved protocol, and the UBC report
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  Speaker 1: found there were quote significant discrepancies between Gahari's lab team's
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  Speaker 1: data and the data recorded by the nurse.
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  Speaker 3: The very basic point, there's not supposed to be two
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  Speaker 3: sets of data when a study like this is taking place.
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  Speaker 3: There's supposed to be one set of data, and it's
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  Speaker 3: data that doctor Geherry is not supposed to be supposed
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  Speaker 3: to be playing a role in generating because of his
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  Speaker 3: financial conflict of interest.
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  Speaker 1: In the end, Meshville improved some of the surgical wounds,
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  Speaker 1: but none of the pressure also wounds fully healed, and
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  Speaker 1: handful showed signs of infection.
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  Speaker 2: The nurse told.
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  Speaker 1: Investigators, I would never use it for chronic wound healing
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  Speaker 1: because of the infections she observed. But the report found
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  Speaker 1: that Gahari continued to promote Meshville as successful on YouTube,
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  Speaker 1: in a presentation to Work Safe BC, and in applications
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  Speaker 1: to expand the study. In his defense, Gahari said he
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  Speaker 1: didn't know not all pass in the study had pressure wounds,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: but the report found he would have had access to
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  Speaker 1: all patient medical records. His lawyer said in a statement,
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  Speaker 1: to portray an individual's entire legacy through the narrow lens
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  Speaker 1: of a single confidential event risks creating an inaccurate and
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  Speaker 1: damaging public narrative.
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  Speaker 2: They said Gahari.
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  Speaker 1: Has nothing to hide in relation to his career as
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  Speaker 1: a scientist and is proud of his career achievements. UBC
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  Speaker 1: also declined to speak to us for this story, saying
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  Speaker 1: privacy law prevents UBC from commenting on allegations of scholarly.
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  Speaker 2: Integrity you've raised.
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  Speaker 1: But the ethics experts we spoke to said this should
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  Speaker 1: have been made public, especially since Meshville was publicly promoted
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  Speaker 1: by the university.
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  Speaker 3: And so I think when these investigative reports disappear from
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  Speaker 3: view are never made public, there's an important educational opportunity
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  Speaker 3: that just never takes place. And of course that's in
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  Speaker 3: some respects advantageous for the institution because they don't have
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  Speaker 3: to deal with very challenging questions that might be embarrassing
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  Speaker 3: certainly don't fit a good PR storyline.
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  Speaker 1: Many questions remain, including were the patients in the human
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  Speaker 1: trial ever informed about this investigation and its results? And
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  Speaker 1: when a university promotes a product later found to be
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  Speaker 1: the result of problematic research, what is their responsibility to
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  Speaker 1: the public. Michel Gasoube, CBC News Vancouver,