ORI Makes First Misconduct Finding Since October; Concerns Agency Is ‘Slowing Down’

By: Theresa Defino

Cohen Seglias partner Paul Thaler discussed growing concerns within the research integrity community over delays in the federal research misconduct investigation process. In the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)’s Report on Research Compliance, Paul warned that staffing losses and regulatory changes at the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) could further slow an already lengthy process. He emphasized that the new misconduct rule—allowing institutions to disclose allegations before a finding—is especially harmful to researchers under investigation, stating, “The whole world will see they’re having to respond to an allegation of research misconduct.” He cautioned that without stronger confidentiality protections, careers may be unfairly damaged before due process runs its course.

Since the Trump administration took office in January, mass terminations and retirements, as well as closures of departments and programs, are remaking the federal agency landscape. But it’s taking detective work to learn about many of those changes, including who has left an agency, with details found only by scouring social media sites like LinkedIn or comparing current and older versions of agency websites.

The White House itself sometimes makes significant announcements on X. Another obvious way to check for agency proof-of-life is to monitor its announcements, particularly enforcement actions by key research oversight agencies, such as the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). But because then-Acting HHS Secretary Dorothy Fink put these and other HHS agencies on a communications and external engagement “pause” that was to end Feb. 1, it’s been difficult to know why an agency might be publicly silent.