Dong Pyou-Han, a former researcher at Iowa State University who spiked rabbit blood samples to make it look as though a potential HIV vaccine was working, was arrested earlier this week on felony charges.

According to the Des Moines Register:

The federal charges filed by Nicholas Klinefeldt, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa, each carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. Han was arrested Monday and appeared before a magistrate judge in Ohio before being released. Han is scheduled to appear at the federal courthouse in Des Moines on Tuesday.

This case and others have led to a lively conversation about whether scientific fraud should be treated like a crime. The number of U.S. researchers who have been found guilty of fraud and have served jail time — Eric Poehlman and Scott Reuben come to mind — is very small.

Some are also asking why none of the grants based on Han’s fakery — some $10 million — are being returned to the NIH. As the the Des Moines Register story notes:

The case prompted U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley to question whether the government would ever be able to recoup any grant money awarded as the result of Han’s fraud. In a May 9 letter to Grassley, a director with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote that ISU would have to repay $496,832, which was the amount of federal grant money that went toward paying Han’s salary.

The case has led to one retraction. As we reported in December, according to the Office of Research Integrity, Han agreed to a ban on NIH research for three years.

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