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Welcome to the latest edition of Investigative Roundup, highlighting some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.

China Had COVID Sequence Earlier Than Reported

A Chinese researcher uploaded a "nearly complete sequence" of SARS-CoV-2 to a U.S. government-run database "at least 2 weeks before Beijing revealed details of the deadly virus to the world," .

The first known publication of SARS-CoV-2's genetic sequence was on January 11, 2020, but a Chinese researcher had submitted the sequence to the NIH database GenBank on December 28, 2019.

The revelation came to light through documents obtained from HHS by republicans on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee and reviewed by WSJ.

"The new information doesn't shed light on the debate over whether COVID emerged from an infected animal or a lab leak, but it suggests that the world still doesn't have a full accounting of the pandemic's origin," WSJ wrote, noting that the extra 2 weeks could have potentially improved the global response to the pandemic.

The Chinese researcher who submitted the virus sequence was Lili Ren, PhD, of the Beijing-based Institute of Pathogen Biology, which is part of the state-affiliated Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, WSJ reported. Ren did not respond to an email from WSJ seeking comment on the matter.

Retractions for Cancer Researchers

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston are planning to retract six papers and correct 31 manuscripts amid an investigation into data manipulation involving more than 50 papers, .

While STAT initially reported on one retraction, the was first to report the updated numbers.

The review of papers authored by four top researchers at Dana-Farber -- including its CEO -- has grown after Sholto David, PhD, a molecular biologist who blogs about research integrity, flagged issues with dozens of studies, . Some of the alleged issues were first described by David, and others were flagged online years prior, the outlet noted.

"Correcting the scientific record is a common practice of institutions with strong research integrity processes at which basic research is conducted," Dana-Farber told STAT. "Some of the potential errors that blogger Sholto David flagged had come up in our ongoing reviews."

Corrections in progress include those that are currently being prepared for submission, are awaiting acceptance from journals, and have already been accepted, STAT noted.

Steven Salzberg, PhD, a computational biologist at Johns Hopkins University, who spoke to STAT about scientific misconduct more generally but not on the specific cases at Dana-Farber, told the outlet that moving to correct and retract papers is the first step to restoring trust in a researcher amid misconduct allegations.

"I know professors who found out [scientific misconduct] was happening in their labs and retracted the papers," he told STAT. "It's a black mark on your record, but if you're a scientist with integrity then that's what you do and you recover from it."

Arizona Legislators Push for Med Board Transparency

In Arizona, residents "would more readily know" whether their physician previously committed sexual abuse, violence, or improper prescribing under a proposed change in law and the governor's budget plan, .

The proposed change follows a series of articles in the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com that showed how patients in the state are "put at risk because the [medical] board's investigators are stretched thin and records of doctor misconduct are hidden from patients," the Arizona Republic noted.

Current law bans the Arizona Medical Board's website from showing more than 5 years of a physician's misbehavior and from posting advisory letters, the Arizona Republic noted. However, proposed changes include adding medical board investigators, extending the window for misbehavior posted online to 25 years, and posting advisory letters.

"This is definitely a significant stride in the right direction, toward public transparency," Lisa McGiffert, co-founder of the Patient Safety Action Network, told the Arizona Republic. "And I think it appropriately responds to the issues that were reported in the Arizona Republic in a very positive way."

Previous reporting from the Arizona Republic on the state medical board's "shortcomings in dealing with sexual misconduct" -- the same number it had about 30 years ago -- with high caseloads.

The medical board's executive director, Patricia McSorley, JD, was supportive of extra staff while declining further comment on proposed legislation and on a physician for whom misconduct allegations lingered for years, the Arizona Republic reported.

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