38%

The percentage of 86 US medical schools responding to a survey that have adopted a policy on institutional conflict of interest since the Association of American Medical Colleges issued a recommendation in 2001 to do so (J. Am. Med. Assoc. 299, 665–671; 2008).

9%

The number of biomedical scientists who reported having witnessing research misconduct, according to a survey of 2,212 people at 605 universities (Nature 453, 980–982; 2008).

45%

The proportion of doctors who admitted to prescribing placebos to patients (J. Gen. Intern. Med. 23, 7–10; 2008).

3

The number of offices the US Food and Drug Administration says it will set up in China after health scares involving tainted medical products.

238

The number of people whose deaths have been linked to the blood thinner heparin since January, according to the FDA. The fatalities dwindled, however, after experts identified the source of contamination of this medication.

3 million

The number of people in low and middle-income countries receiving antiretroviral medications in 2007, up from 300,000 in 2002, according to new data released by UNAIDS.

$48 billion

The sum of money authorized for five years by the US government as part of PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief).