Chronic Fatigue Case Dropped

The criminal charges that had been brought upon chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Judy Mikovits for stealing data from her former employer have been dropped.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

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Since last November, chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Judy Mikovits, formerly employed by the Whittemore Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease (WPI) in Reno, Nevada, has been facing civil and criminal charges for allegedly taking lab notebooks and computer documents from her WPI office, after having been fired by the institute.

But earlier this week (June 11), the Washoe County district attorney's office filed to dismiss the criminal case, though it retains the right to file a related complaint in the future, according to ScienceInsider.

The civil matter, however, is still underway. The judge who initially ruled against Mikovits later recused himself because of campaign donations he had received from WPI co-founder Harvey Whittemore. Incidentally, Whittemore is also facing criminal charges regarding alleged illegal campaign contributions to ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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