A Federal judge in Baltimore today ordered the University of Alabama and four of its scientists to pay the Government and a researcher a total of $1.9 million for stealing her work and using it as their own to obtain Federal grants.The case, decided by a jury, was unusual because the researcher, Dr Pamela A. Berge, an epidemiologist who now works for Pfizer Inc, had gone to court under the Federal False Claims Act, a Civil War-era statute rarely used in cases involving scientific misconduct....Officials at Alabama, speaking for the university and the four scientists, said in a statement that the verdict was "not consistent with or supported by the evidence" and would likely be appealed.The jury found that each of the scientists had individually committed malicious acts of fraud against Dr Berge by claiming her work as his own, by using it to gain grants, and by publishing it in a scientific journal without crediting her. The university was held liable for aiding the fraud. The jury said the Government had been harmed by the fraudulent claims in applications for grants.The university was ordered to pay $1.66 million, of which Dr Berge's share would be $498 000 and the remainder the Federal Government's. The scientists—Drs Robert F. Pass, Sergio B. Stagno, Charles Alford, and Karen B. Fowler—were ordered to pay collectively $50 000 in compensatory damages to Dr Berge and $215 000 in punitive damages.
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机译：巴尔的摩的一名联邦法官今天命令阿拉巴马大学及其四名科学家向政府和一名研究人员支付总计190万美元的赔偿金，理由是他们窃取了她的作品并将其作为自己的作品获得联邦资助。之所以与众不同，是因为研究员，现为辉瑞公司工作的流行病学家Pamela A. Berge博士已根据《联邦虚假声明法》出庭，这是内战时期的法规，在涉及科学不当行为的案件中很少使用。阿拉巴马州的官员在代表大学和四名科学家的讲话中说，该裁决“与证据不符或没有证据支持”，并且可能会提起上诉。陪审团认为，每位科学家都分别犯有恶意行为。声称自己是自己的工作，利用其获得赠款并通过在科学期刊上发表而未归功于贝尔格博士的欺诈行为。该大学因助长欺诈行为而承担责任。陪审团表示，政府因申请助学金的欺诈请求而受到伤害，该大学被勒令支付166万澳元，其中Berge博士的应缴款为499.8万澳元，其余为联邦政府的。罗伯特·F·帕斯博士，塞尔吉奥·B·斯塔尼奥，查尔斯·阿尔福德和凯伦·B·福勒等科学家被责令分别向贝尔格博士支付5万美元的赔偿金和21.5万美元的惩罚性赔偿金。
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