2 Trial Coordinators Say They Falsified Data

Two women who worked as study coordinators at Florida’s Tellus Clinical Research have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to falsify clinical trial data. The Department of Justice says Analay Rico, Fort Lauderdale, and Daylen Diaz, Miami, reached a plea agreement in which they admitted agreeing with others to defraud clients who were paying for clinical trial work intended to evaluate treatments for various medical conditions including opioid dependency, irritable bowel syndrome, and diabetic neuropathy.

The two admitted they falsified data to make it appear as though subjects were participating in the trials when they were not, the statement says.

Three other participants in the scheme have been sentenced to jail time and a trial of three additional participants is to begin in September.

The department says the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations investigated the case.