Madoff Scam Zaps Key Science Funds

Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme is sending shockwaves deep into the worlds of medicine and science as scammed charitable foundations yank funding for key research projects, reports the Wall Street Journal. Experts believe the number of people affected by the scam's impact on health care could run into the millions.

Labs working on medical research fear they will have to cancel promising projects and lay off workers, setting them back years. "We could be inches away from that breakthrough that could change the lives of millions of people, and Madoff pulled the rug out from underneath us," said a member of a research consortium on Parkinson's disease. (More Bernard Madoff stories.)