"We are talking about millions of patients worldwide, where postoperative pain management has been affected by the research findings of Dr. Reuben," says Steven Shafer, editor in chief of the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, which published 10 of Reuben's fraudulent papers.

Paul White, another editor at the journal, estimates that Reuben's studies led to the sale of billions of dollars worth of the potentially dangerous drugs known as COX2 inhibitors, Pfizer's Celebrex (celecoxib) and Merck's Vioxx (rofecoxib)

The question is: Why did it take 12 years before a "routine audit" revealed Reuben's widespread data fabrication? "Baystate publishes about 200 [studies] every year, and of those [articles], the audit rate might only be 5 percent," Baystate's Jenson says, acknowledging that ultimately "Baystate is responsible" for making sure that research done there is properly conducted and reported.