For-profit IRB approves protocol for a fake product

"Government investigators looking into lax screening of medical research said Thursday they easily won approval from a private review board of a fake product to be used in medical testing on human subjects."

"The Government Accountability Office also said it was able to register with the Health and Human Services Department a fictitious institutional review board, a panel of doctors and scientists that must approve any medical drug or device to be used in federally funded testing on humans. The president of this fake review board was a dog named Trooper."

The AP reports.

According to the WSJ Health Blog: "Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., criticized Health and Human Services officials for failing to catch the fictitious IRB and registering it despite numerous red flags. 'Nobody picked up on names like Phake Medical Devices, April Phuls, Timothy Witless and Alan Ruse - in the town of Chetesville, Ariz.?' he asked department reps."