Friday Blog Roundup

Bloggers are reacting to the news of major scientific fraud: Massachusetts anesthesiologist Dr. Scott Reuben falsified data in his published studies for more than a decade.

• Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science explores the effects of Dr. Reubenâs duplicity on anesthesiology and surgical patients.
• Orac at Respectful Insolence considers how Dr. Reuben was able to get away with fraud for so long.
• Merrill Goozner at GoozNews notes that Dr. Reubenâs drug trials, like many industry-funded studies, didnât examine the question that would really be of interest to physicians.
• Alison Bass focuses on the conflict-of-interest angle, noting that Dr. Reuben received speaking fees from Pfizer while reporting positive results from studies of its drugs â a conflict not disclosed in the journals where he published. (Remember, Alison Bass will be speaking here at GW next Wednesday!)

And also on the topic of doctors accepting drug-industry money, Roy M. Poses MD at Health Care Renewal notes medical school faculty members are often paid too little for teaching â which makes it more likely that theyâll accept pharmaceutical-industry funding.

Elsewhere:

Sarah Rubenstein at WSJâs Health Blog gives us a quick portrait of Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Obamaâs choice to head the FDA.

Justin Masterman at Science Progress welcomes Obamaâs executive order on stem cells and highlights 10 promising advances in stem-cell research that have occurred around the world over the past few years.

Ezra Klein asks whether Citibank is playing politics on the Employee Free Choice Act.

Judy Berman at Broadsheet praises Oprahâs coverage of teen dating violence.

Tom Philpott at Gristmill explores how industrial strawberry production affects workers and the climate.

Michelle Goldberg at RH Reality Check applauds the just-passed spending billâs inclusion of $50 million for the United Nations Population Fund.

Aman at Technology, Health & Development considers how the economic crisis will affect global health.

And, in case you need a reminder of just how tricky it is to translate between Chinese and English, check out these descriptions of environmental books.