Partners HealthCare, Brigham Hospital Pay $10M In Medical Research Fraud Case

Partners HealthCare and Brigham and Women's Hospital have agreed to pay $10 million to settle a medical research fraud case involving three doctors who are no longer affiliated with the companies.

The U.S. attorney's office in Boston announced Thursday that the settlement resolves allegations that a Brigham and Women's stem cell research lab run by Dr. Piero Anversa fraudulently obtained grant funding from the National Institutes of Health by using improper protocols, inaccurately characterized cardiac stem cells, recklessly kept records, and fabricated data and images included in applications.

Applauding Brigham and Women's, a Partners hospital, for disclosing the allegations to the government, prosecutors said Anversa and Drs. Annarosa Leri and Jan Kajstura "knew or should have known" about the use of manipulated or false information.

"Today, Partners Healthcare and Brigham and Women's Hospital resolved allegations of fraud perpetuated by several scientists who worked for them," Harold Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI in Boston, said in a statement. "This settlement demonstrates the FBI's commitment to ensuring that taxpayer dollars are not wasted, and that organizations that receive these funds are truthful in their dealings with federal agencies like the NIH and in the research findings they present to the scientific community, and the public, as a whole."