ABSTRACT
The idea of “do no harm” has been a part of medicine and the ethics of medical professionals for over 2,000 years. It is a part of our collective consciousness and plays a central role in how we perceive and relate to doctors, medicine, and medical research. The overwhelming majority of physicians and researchers honor this ideal and strive to make sure all their actions are meant to help their patients and the public at large. However, the pressure to succeed and the allure of fame have led to ethical lapses by those in a position of medical trust and leadership failures in the institutions that support them. Many of these ethical lapses involve manipulating research to show convenient, though misleading, conclusions and treatment plans. Doctoring the data not only fails to help; it most certainly fails to “do no harm.”
