Source: Tom Grill / Getty
Joyce Shoffner survived her battle with breast cancer and now she is shedding some light on her experience in a clinical trial at Duke University, which has been described as one of the largest cases of medical fraud in history.
Duke University enrolled patients in three clinical trials related to Dr. Anil Potti’s claim to have discovered a method that would allow him to match a patient’s tumor to the best chemotherapy drug. Shoffner who is 68years old was diagnosed with cancer in June 2008 and was enrolled in a trial within a month.
Shoffner says “It was presented to me in such a way there was no way I could lose. I went into it with a false sense of confidence that I would most certainly come out of this with no tumor.” Little did she know that the chemotherapy would leave her hospitalized with blood clots and a tumor that was steadily growing.
Shoffner was then told that her trial had ended due to “some problems with the data.” Duke had actually stopped work on the trials in 2010 after learning that Potti had exaggerated his credentials including claiming that he was a Rhodes scholar.
Immediately following the incident Shoffner was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder “I started immediately going through this trauma and devastation of finding that this was not going to save me and all that I had gone through was for naught.”
Shoffner feels the emotional stress that she underwent could’ve been avoided “They never stopped after red flags went up. The flags went up before I ever went into the trial.” Eight families of trial participants that later sued Duke, Duke University Health System and affiliated physicians, alleging that researchers raised questions about Potti’s research as early as 2006 and that Duke officials tried to cover up questions about the research.
The lawsuit was settled last month. Duke officials declined to comment on the case, and terms of the legal settlement haven’t been disclosed.
Shoffner, one of only two of the eight plaintiffs still alive and although she is in remission, her doctors (at UNC Hospital) continue to monitor her for any cancer recurrence. Potti resigned from Duke in late 2010.
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