Top Cancer Researcher in Hot Water Over Financial Ties

One of the world's top breast cancer researchers is taking heat after a New York Times and ProPublica report revealed he failed to list his financial ties to big pharma in major publications and elsewhere. Dr. José Baselga reportedly did not follow established guidelines for reporting such ties in articles he published in prestigious medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. Baselga is chief medical officer at New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and has held senior positions at Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and other companies.

The Times and ProPublica analysis also found that Baselga "put a positive spin" on two clinical trials sponsored by Roche at a conference despite other researchers having characterized them as disappointing. While Baselga has reportedly received over $3 million from Roche since 2014, he did not disclose the relationship at the conference or when presenting the findings to analysts in 2017. Baselga says the failures to disclose were unintentional and, since the report was published, Memorial Sloan Kettering CEO Dr. Craig B. Thompson said in an email to all staff that they must "do a better job" of reporting such ties, per the New York Times. (More cancer research stories.)