Johan Thyberg

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The Bactiguard Fairy Tale

According to the press release published jointly next day by Swecare and Bactiguard the Minister congratulated to the prize and pointed out that the company ”based on an excellent business idea had managed to take advantage of the possibilities given by new markets in a superior manner”. He further said: ”Bactiguard can function as a model for many Swedish entrepreneurs that want to assist in the creation of a better health care for people all around the world”. Truly no bad mark. The motivation of the jury was that ”Bactiguard during the last year has developed its export possibilities on many new markets with great success, new thinking, and creativity”. In the communiqué the company was presented in the following way: ”Bactiguard offers worldleading solutions for the prevention of hospital infections - the fourth largest cause of death in the western world. The use of Bactiguard’s technology can reduce the costs of health and hospital care, decrease the use of antibiotics, and save lives. The product of Bactiguard is an extremely thin coating of precious metals with antimicrobial and biocompatible properties, possible to apply on all types of technical products used in medicine”. Did those involved have any scientific basis for these farreaching statements or was it all just a publicity stunt?

Johan Thyberg: Professor emeritus in cell and molecular biology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Have earlier published the books: Forskningsfusk eller Rättsövergrepp (2009) Scientific Fraud or Legal Scandal (2011) Forskning till Salu (2010) (Research for Sale)