Sales of USC scientist's new book suspended after 95 instances of plagiarism found
LOS ANGELES — The publication of a new book by Dr. David Agus, the media-friendly University of Southern California oncologist who leads the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, was shaping up to be a high-profile event.
Agus promoted “The Book of Animal Secrets: Nature’s Lessons for a Long and Happy Life” with appearances on CBS News, where he serves as a medical contributor, and “The Howard Stern Show,” where he is a frequent guest. Entrepreneur Arianna Huffington hosted a dinner party at her home in his honor. The title hit No. 1 on Amazon’s list of top-selling books about animals a week before its March 7 publication.
However, a Los Angeles Times investigation found at least 95 separate passages in the book that resemble — sometimes word for word — text that originally appeared in other published sources available on the internet. The passages are not credited or acknowledged in the book or its endnotes.
The Times contacted Agus and the book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, with its findings late last week. On Monday, both announced that sales of the book would be suspended immediately pending a rewrite that includes appropriate credit for the passages in question.
“I was recently made aware that in writing
