STAT+: In the biotech industry, a most-wanted fugitive was long hiding in plain sight
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- Ronald Fischer, a former doctor convicted of sexual assault and one of Rhode Island's most-wanted fugitives, was discovered last week to have been secretly working in the biotech industry under the alias Richard Graydon for roughly two decades.
- Graydon worked on a full-time basis at at least one biotech company and on a contractual basis for at least two large pharmaceutical companies, none of which detected his true identity.
- An industry recruiter who spoke with Graydon told STAT it wasn't surprising he was hired, citing his stellar academic credentials, board certification, and years of experience leading teams that successfully developed cancer drugs.
- A STAT review found that much of Graydon's CV appears to have been fabricated, even as it "checked the right boxes" for top biotech and pharma roles.
- The hiring companies apparently failed to vet him thoroughly enough to detect the alias or criminal record, exposing gaps in background checks for senior drug-development hires.
Why it matters: His case shows that a candidate with a largely fabricated CV, board certification, and cancer drug development experience can pass hiring at multiple biotech and pharma companies for 20 years undetected — exposing a vetting gap in an industry where unverified credentials directly affect which teams lead drug development.
