Scandalous science: Research fraud and dubious data in journals

"My strong suspicion is that the frequency of fraud is much greater today than it has ever been," Relman said.

He cites two reasons for this trend: intensifying financial pressures – including the "domination of corporate interest and control of medical practice behavior and research by financial institutions" – and the fact that more and more clinical studies are being conducted every year."The economic pressures on authors who conduct the studies are much higher."

"The commercialization of medicine poses the greatest threat to U.S. health care," Relman said.