Skip to main content

Paper Retracted Following Lawsuit

Research funded in part by a biotech was retracted after a lawsuit claiming the work could not be replicated.

Written byEdyta Zielinska
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00

Prostate CancerWIKIMEDIA COMMONS, NEPHRON

Robert Getzenberg of Johns Hopkins University retracted his finding published in Urology on a novel blood protein that could be developed into a test for prostate cancer, after reviewing the original data and finding inconsistencies in the reported results.

The research had come under scrutiny because Onconome, a company that had in part funded the work, tried to develop the results into a diagnostic and failed, reported ScienceInsider. They found that the biomarker was "essentially as reliable as flipping a coin," according to the Onconome’s lawsuit against Johns Hopkins, Getzenberg, and Getzenberg’s former employer, the University of Pittsburgh.

While the lawsuit was settled in 2010, the research was only retracted in October 2011, after it had been cited 67 times, according to Retraction Watch.

(Read ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member?
Add The Scientist as a preferred source on Google

Add The Scientist as a preferred Google source to see more of our trusted coverage.

Meet the Author

  • The Scientist Placeholder Image

    Edyta Zielinska was a senior editor at The Scientist from 2007 to 2013, where she worked closely with scientific illustrators to develop accompanying graphics to illuminate complex concepts. 

    View Full Profile

Related Topics

Related articles background image
August 2026 Digest cover
August 2026

Epic Fail: Sea-Monkeys Sabotage Fieldwork

When Barry Hicks set out to photograph thrombolites, thousands of unexpected visitors photobombed his underwater images.

View this Issue
Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Overcoming Immunotherapy Resistance in Liver Cancer

Axion Biosystems
Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Optimizing NGS Library Preparation for Reliable Sequencing Data

Covaris
Using TCR Repertoire Sequencing to Advance Immunology Research

Using TCR Repertoire Sequencing to Advance Immunology Research

Miltenyi
Mapping Clonal Mosaicism in Aging Tissues

Mapping Clonal Mosaicism in Aging Tissues

Mission bio

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches SuperNuclease ® Pro with Free Trial Program

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological Launches Precisely Characterized Full-Length p-Tau217 Protein to Advance Next-Generation Alzheimer’s Biomarker Assay Development

A photo of a scientist placing the Resipher device on a 96-well plate.

Resipher: Continuous Live-Cell Mitochondrial Respiration Monitoring in 96-Well Plates

Lucid Scientific logo
Conceptual image of ice and frost.

The VAULT100 PRO: Inside the most advanced Stirling Ultracold ULT freezer ever built.

Stirling Ultracold logo