FDA Let Drugs Approved on Fraudulent Research Stay on the Market

by Rob Garver and Charles Seife, Special to ProPublica,

April 15, 2013, 9:17 a.m.

On the morning of May 3, 2010, three agents of the Food and Drug Administration descended upon the Houston office of Cetero Research, a firm that conducted research for drug companies worldwide.

Lead agent Patrick Stone, now retired from the FDA, had visited the Houston lab many times over the previous decade for routine inspections. This time was different. His team was there to investigate a former employee's allegation that the company had tampered with records and manipulated test data.