News roundup

GMC reprimands doctor for research fraud

London  Owen Dyer

Goran Jamal, a neurophysiologist well known for his work on the Gulf war syndrome and organophosphate poisoning, has been reprimanded by the General Medical Council after being found guilty of research fraud in a drug trial.

The professional conduct committee of the GMC found Dr Jamal, aged 49, guilty of serious professional misconduct for falsifying his results in a multicentre trial of the drug Tarabetic, also known as Efamol, a constituent of evening primrose oil, intended for the treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Having played a major role in the preliminary work on the drug, Dr Jamal had been promised 0.5% of Tarabetic’s profits should it come to market.

The drug, for which sales of almost £90m ($142m; €131m) had been forecast, never gained regulatory approval because the other centres in the trial reported poor efficacy. Its rejection in 1997 by the Medicines Control Agency was an unexpected disaster for the manufacturer, Scotia Holdings, then one of Britain’s leading biotechnology firms. Investors lost millions when the company went into administration in 2001.

Dr Jamal was accused of breaching the trial’s protocol of randomisation into treatment and control groups. He should not have known which patients were allocated to which group, but almost all of his seriously ill diabetic patients went into the treatment group. The likelihood that this happened by coincidence was remote, the committee heard.

Mary Clark-Glass, chairing the panel, said: "The committee accept that he subverted the protocol neither for his own personal financial benefit nor to obtain funds for research projects. Instead he did so in a misguided attempt to establish the efficacy of a treatment in which he had come to believe.

"He has undoubtedly contributed and could still contribute much, both to the advancement of medical science and to the benefit of his patients. The committee is persuaded that his conduct in connection with this clinical trial was entirely out of character. There was no evidence of harm to patients.

"The committee have also taken into account that these events took place over 12 years ago and that a finding of serious professional misconduct will inevitably have a devastating effect on Dr Jamal’s personal and professional reputation.

"The committee has decided, exceptionally, to conclude this inquiry with a severe reprimand. The committee is certain that his conduct was an isolated departure from high standards in an otherwise exemplary career and that there is no reasonable prospect that this conduct will ever be repeated."

Dr Jamal’s most famous published work was one of the first studies to suggest that the neurological symptoms Gulf war veterans might be due to a combination of organophosphate pesticides and antinerve gas drugs (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 1996;60:449-51).

Dr Jamal attended the first part of the hearing but is currently in his native Iraqi Kurdistan on behalf of the British government, the GMC was told.
 

This article has been cited by other articles:

• (2003). Obituary of David Horrobin. BMJ 326: 1091-1091 [Full text]  
• Richmond, C. (2003). David Horrobin. BMJ 326: 885-885 [Full text]