Briggs affair

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The Briggs affair refers to a incident during the 1980s whereby an English biochemist, Michael Briggs, was forced to resign from his position at Deakin University in Australia, after it was discovered he had faked results pertaining to the contraceptive pill. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Overview

Michael Briggs (20 August 1935 – 28 November 1986) [6] was an English biochemist at Deakin University in Melbourne. He had previously worked for Schering Pharmaceuticals, now part of Bayer. [7]

Concerns about Briggs' work were first raised in 1983, [8] although it took years for the fraud to be discovered. [9] Some people who spoke out received threats. [10] [11] Briggs resigned by November 1985 and moved to Spain, [12] which impeded the investigation against him. [13] [14] [15] Investigative journalist Brian Deer found Briggs in Spain, where he confessed to scientific fraud; making up evidence. [16]

Briggs claimed to have conducted animal research on beagles at Deakin, which could not have been possible, as well as use of a hormone not available in Australia. [12] Briggs was found not to have a PhD from Cornell University as he claimed. [11] [17] [14] Briggs died in November 1986 from "heart failure after a digestive haemorrhage and cirrhosis of the liver". [6]

Historian Jan Sapp's materials about the affair have been collated at the University of Melbourne. [18] A report into the affair was conducted by Margery Ramsay in 1988, [6] which was going to be the basis of a book subtitled gross scientific misconduct. [19] Briggs's daughter has published a book about her father, titled The Scientist Who Wasn't There: A true story of staggering deception. [17] [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Martin, Brian (1989). "Fraud and Australian Academics". NEA Higher Education Journal. V (2): 95–96.
  2. ↑ "Professor fabricated research on pill". The Press. 30 September 1987. p. 8.
  3. ↑ "Pill research 'faked'". The Press. 30 September 1986. p. 8.
  4. ↑ Catrice, Antony (14 October 2022). "'The Briggs Affair Part 1: An academic scandal'". The Deakin Library Blog.
  5. ↑ Catrice, Antony (21 October 2022). "'The Briggs Affair Part 2: The push for a University inquiry'". The Deakin Library Blog.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Catrice, Antony (8 November 2022). "'The Briggs Affair Part 3: Fallout', The Deakin Library blog". Deakin Library Blog.
  7. ↑ Deer, Brian (28 September 1986). "Exposed: the bogus work of Professor Briggs". The Sunday Times.
  8. ↑ Martin, Brian (1992). "Scienfitic fraud and the power structure of science". Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation. 10: 92–93. doi: 10.1080/08109029208629515 .
  9. ↑ Maslen, Geoffrey (23 August 1990). "The 'six deadly sins' of our intelligentsia". The Canberra Times. p. 8.
  10. ↑ Maslen, Geoffrey (17 March 1990). "FAKING IT: Lies from the lab". The Canberra Times. p. 21.
  11. 1 2 Rossiter, E. J. R. (1992). "Reflections of a whistle-blower" (PDF). Nature . 357 (6378): 434–436. Bibcode:1992Natur.357..434R. doi:10.1038/357434a0. PMID   1608440.
  12. 1 2 Grove, J. W. (1996). "The morality of scientists revisited". Minerva. 34: 59. doi:10.1007/BF00124201.
  13. ↑ Ewing, Tania (1 March 1990). "Australia's new guidelines". Nature . 344 (6261): 7. Bibcode:1990Natur.344....7E. doi:10.1038/344007a0.
  14. 1 2 Lock, Stephen. "4". Reseach misconduct 1974-1990: an imperfect history. p. 57.
  15. ↑ Purchase, Iain F. H. (2004). "Fraud, errors and gamesmanship in experimental toxicology". Toxicology. 202 (1–2): 1–20. Bibcode:2004Toxgy.202....1P. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2004.06.029.
  16. ↑ Deer, Brian (28 September 1986). "The pill: professor's safety tests were faked". The Sunday Times.
  17. 1 2 Chaudhuri, Anita (9 July 2025). "My father, the fake: was anything he told me actually true?". The Guardian .
  18. ↑ Smith, Ailie; McCarthy, Ann (January 2007). "Guide to the Records of Dr Jan Sapp Regarding the Briggs Affair". The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre. Retrieved 25 August 2025.
  19. ↑ Veit-Brause, Irmline (2004). ""The Beagle Boys"︁ Commercial Contracts, Institutional Controls and Individual Courage". Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte. 27 (3): 174–256. doi:10.1002/bewi.200401018.
  20. ↑ Robinson, Andrew (22 August 2025). "How a fraudulent scientist faked his career and other cautionary tales: Books in brief" . Nature. 644 (8078): 869. Bibcode:2025Natur.644..869R. doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02639-y.


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