Duke will pay $112.5M to settle lawsuit alleging research data was doctored

Duke University will pay $112.5 million to the federal government to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging researchers falsified data to obtain more than $200 million in federal grant funding, according to the Department of Justice. In the lawsuit, former Duke lab analyst Joseph Thomas alleged a research technician improperly falsified and fabricated data from 2006 to 2013 to obtain research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the DOJ said. Thomas filed the suit under the False Claims Act which allows people not affiliated with the government to file actions against persons and companies that defraud the government. Under the terms of the settlement, Thomas will receive $33.7 million of the $112.5 million for serving as the whistleblower, the DOJ said. The rest will be paid to the U.S. government.