Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

In a final, anticlimactic twist in the story of Robert Gallo and the
discovery of HIV, the US government’s Office of Research Integrity (ORI)
has withdrawn its finding that the AIDS researcher was guilty of scientific
misconduct.

Gallo was scheduled to appeal against the verdict, which was reached
last December, at a hearing starting this week. However, the appeals panel
last week overturned the misconduct finding against Gallo’s colleague and
co-author Mikulas Popovic, saying that the ORI had not proved that Popovic
had deliberately intended to deceive. Anticipating that the finding against
Gallo would also be overturned, the ORI withdrew its verdict.

Lyle Bivens, director of the ORI, expressed ‘dismay’ at the overturning
of the Popovic ruling. He said the ORI and the appeals panel were in ‘fundamental
disagreement’ about what constitutes scientific misconduct.