Maryland Cancer Statistics Altered- Cases Overstated--matter goes to Attorney General

[Celebration]

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.md.audit29jul29,0,2812419.story

A state contractor tampered with Maryland's cancer registry, a database used by researchers to track the disease's impact, counting hundreds of patients as having cancer when they did not, according to a legislative audit released yesterday.

...........snip...................

The misinformation led researchers to send an estimated 400 women letters beginning in 2005 asking them to participate in a cervical cancer study when they did not have the disease. About 10 of those women called the state Family Health Administration, part of the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - one of the first indications that the cancer registry was inaccurate.

.......................................snip

The case has been referred to the criminal division of Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's office, which is looking into the matter. The state health department also sent the results of its inspector general's investigation to the federal Department of Health and Human Services and its office of research integrity.

................snip........................


"There are some issues here that concern some big dollar amounts," Myers said.

..................snip.............................

Then in May 2006, a former Macro employee informed the state agency that data were deliberately altered. Macro's investigation found that more than 13 percent of all cases in 2002 showed signs of tampering, according to the audit. Macro concluded that the changes were "methodical and were made by one or more persons with broad access to the system," the audit said.

http://www.orcmacro.com/ProgramAreas/Health/default.aspx

Macro International is well-known nationally and internationally for our efforts—management procedures, customer service, and internal capacity building—and studies in the field of public health. Our staff has broad experience in health-related research, organization development, training development and delivery, customer satisfaction, and improving service delivery. As a result, we often are enlisted by both the public and private sectors to provide leadership and direction to meet specific challenges, like the health assessment and followup care currently available to refugees coming to the United States.

[formercia]

1. I guess they needed patients to experiment on.

It's very easy to cure someone that never had cervical cancer in the first place.


Calling Herr Doktor Mengele!!

[Celebration]

2. LOL

Somebody somewhere knows why this was done.

Do you want to bet it has to do with "follow the money"?

Hmmm, so since this had to be done by "one or more persons", with "broad access to the system", maybe we can use the "C" word as a possibility here?

CONSPIRACY

[trotsky]

3. ZOMG! It's TEH C-WORD!

Actually if you READ the article and read other accounts of what happened, an employee at Macro inflated their numbers to match what the state was expecting. Despicable, terrible behavior, but absolutely no reason to think this was intentionally done to "experiment" on healthy people. Sheesh, the amount of crazy in this forum is disturbing.

[Celebration]

4. that was postulated for the 2004 changes,

then they found discrepancies in 2002. If it was "one" then it isn't a conspiracy. If it was "or more" then it is a conspiracy, no matter what the reason. And it doesn't really look like they know the reason with any certainty. It was stated that there is lots of $$ amount riding on these statistics.

[trotsky]

5. So let's SCARE people! That's always a good idea!

The contractor apparently was under pressure to report more cases of cancer than there were. So they fudged the data. But no individuals ended up getting treatments they didn't need, no one was harmed, and educated RESEARCHERS (no doubt in the pocket of big pharma! :sarcasm:) discovered the problem and blew the whistle.

But that's no fun to report - so let's scream "CONSPIRACY" and make ridiculous charges like comparing this to Mengele. Koresh almighty.

[Celebration]

6. Projecting again?

Apparently a few women did contact the state, because they didn't have cervical cancer. Sheesh, sure they would investigate that.

If this wasn't serious I doubt they would report it to the AG of the state. Right?

At this point nobody knows for sure why it was done, but whatever the reason, it could be criminal.

Does it even make you wonder if this is an isolated case? There is a considerable amount of state money involved in the way the health statistics are reported.

Screaming conspiracy was just fun because so many people go bonkers here about the word. So when there is any actual evidence of a *possible* conspiracy, yes, I am likely to scream it.

I am pretty sure that the Mengele remark was a sort of strange joke.

[trotsky]

7. Uh, what?

Somehow I'm the one projecting when you're the one on this thread trying to scare people - and gleefully admitting that's what you're doing. Okey dokey then. At least I've exposed your motives.

[Celebration]

8. so, are you denying that there is a possible conspiracy? n/t

[trotsky]

10. Not going to play along with your subject change.

You try it every time you lose a discussion, which is, umm, always?

[varkam]

9. But trotsky, tin foil hats are this season's hottest fashion accessory.

It would be totally awesome if these people would actually wear them in public so we know who they are.

[trotsky]

11. It would be TEH AWESOME, varkam.

[varkam]

12. I really enjoyed your selective quoting from the article.

This one, for example, is a winner:

"There are some issues here that concern some big dollar amounts," Myers said.

Let's read that one in context, shall we?

The Department of Legislative Services produced the audit for a joint committee of the Maryland General Assembly. Bruce A. Myers, an auditor, said the committee is considering whether the problems unearthed at the Family Health Administration deserve more attention. Auditors also found a lack of oversight for several other programs that account for millions in state spending.

"There are some issues here that concern some big dollar amounts," Myers said.

Apparently, the "big dollar amounts" that Myers was referring to had nothing to do with the registry, but I know it makes for better conspiracy theory when you close your eyes and pretend really hard that it does.