— A New York state addiction researcher accused of falsifying data in 2004 used professional actors to clear his name, according to the NY attorney general. William Fals-Stewart, a former University of Buffalo professor, allegedly hired three actors, who each testified by phone, believing it was a mock trial. After being cleared in 2008, Fals-Stewart, now at the University of Rochester, sued the state for $4 million in damages; now, however, the new allegations against him mean that he could face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. (WGRZ)

— Henrik Thomsen, a Danish clinician who claims that the MRI drug Omniscan can cause potentially fatal complications among patients with kidney disease, has launched a countersuit against GE Healthcare. As reported in December, the company sued Thomsen for defaming its drug, but the clinician is retaliating after a GE press release said he was making “knowingly false and inaccurate statements.” (Guardian)

— King Tut’s killer was none other than the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, according to new research. Authors found DNA traces of the protozoan parasite and say the illness debilitated the young pharaoh, who also had a bone disorder. But some experts disagree with the post-mortem diagnosis, noting that malaria was common at the time and so the DNA finding isn’t surprising. (NYTimes)

— The US Patent Office has partially rejected Pfizer’s Viagra patent because an enzyme inhibitor in the impotence drug was deemed similar to that found in a Chinese herbal remedy. The culprit: yin yang huo, better known as horny goat weed. And you thought Viagra commercials were explicit. (Reuters)

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