Sapan Desai

Who he was in the COVID era

• Vascular surgeon (MD, PhD, MBA) and founder and CEO of Surgisphere Corporation in the Chicago area, which said it ran a global hospital database. Documented Sources: New York Times (Jul. 27, 2020); The Scientist (Oct. 23, 2020)
• Co-author, with Mandeep Mehra (Brigham and Women’s/Harvard), Frank Ruschitzka and Amit Patel, of the Lancet hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine registry study (May 22, 2020), which reported higher in-hospital mortality with the drugs. Surgisphere supplied the data. Documented Source: Lancet retraction notice (names “Surgisphere Corporation and its founder and our co-author, Sapan Desai”)
• Co-author of a NEJM study (May 1, 2020) on cardiovascular disease, drug therapy and COVID mortality, also built on Surgisphere data. Documented Source: NEJM retraction (DOI 10.1056/NEJMc2021225)
• Promoted the Lancet findings on television: CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time (May 22, 2020), on-screen ID “Dr. Sapan S. Desai | CEO and President, Surgisphere,” and TRT World (May 26, 2020), “Sapan Desai | Hydroxychloroquine Study Co-author.” Documented Source: Internet Archive, “5.22.20. Cuomo SAPANDESAI”
• Policy impact: on May 25, 2020, the WHO paused the hydroxychloroquine arm of its Solidarity trial, citing the Lancet paper by name. The arm resumed June 3 after the safety board found no reason to change the protocol. Documented Sources: WHO press-conference transcript (May 25, 2020); CNBC (Jun. 3, 2020)
• Broken Truth has reported that the study led to “at least 82 clinical trials being cancelled.” We have not found that figure in a primary WHO document; the WHO paused only its own trial arm. Allegation (needs a primary source) Source: Broken Truth (Aug. 14, 2023)

Collapse of the studies (June 2020)

• A Guardian investigation found Surgisphere’s few listed employees appeared to include a science-fiction writer and an adult-content model, the company had almost no online presence, and Australian hospital figures in the study did not match official counts. Documented (reporting) Sources: Guardian (Jun. 3, 2020); Guardian (Jun. 4, 2020); ABC Australia (Jun. 5, 2020)
• Lancet retraction (Jun. 4, 2020), requested by Mehra, Ruschitzka and Patel, not by Desai. Surgisphere “would not transfer the full dataset, client contracts, and the full ISO audit report” to independent reviewers, so the authors could “no longer vouch for the veracity of the primary data sources.” Documented Source: Lancet retraction (PMC7274621)
• NEJM retraction (Jun. 4, 2020): the authors said they were “not granted access to the raw data” and that it “could not be made available to a third-party auditor.” Documented Sources: NEJM; PubMed 32501665
• The New York Times reported that Desai “declined to share the raw information even with his co-authors.” Documented (reporting) Source: New York Times (Jul. 27, 2020)
• Dozens of Desai’s earlier papers were reported to be under audit, and one tied to his PhD was alleged to contain manipulated images. No outcome has been found. Allegation Source: Guardian (Jun. 10, 2020)
• The film and Broken Truth say the data were faked. Allegation What is documented is that the data were never produced or independently verified, and both journals retracted. We found no formal finding of fabrication by ORI, a court or a journal misconduct ruling.
• The retracted Surgisphere papers kept being cited after retraction. Documented (reporting) Source: TCTMD (2021)

In the film

• Epidemic of Fraud shows Desai on TRT World in the cold open (00:05:04: “This is medicine, and medicine should be based on data and science”) and on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time (00:18:20: “Let data drive this discussion. This study involves 671 hospitals”) and again on TRT World (00:18:52: “Almost 100,000 patients. It is high quality evidence”). Documented (what the film shows)
• Narration from 00:23:31 includes an anonymous former employee’s account, dictated to the filmmaker and voiced by AI. It is unverified first-person testimony. Allegation
• Full timecodes are in the annotated transcript.

COVID-era money

• PPP loan of $21,780 to Surgisphere Corporation (Barrington, Ill.), approved Apr. 30, 2020, and forgiven as of May 12, 2021. It was approved about three weeks before the Lancet paper ran. Documented Source: ProPublica PPP tracker (SBA data)
• A secondary profile puts the forgiven amount at $22,002.34 (principal plus interest) and reports no PPP or COVID-EIDL loan in Desai’s own name. Documented (secondary source) Source: Pandemic Darlings
• Did Surgisphere or Desai earn anything from the COVID studies or from tools sold off them? Surgisphere was privately held, and no revenue, contracts or client list has ever been produced; the retraction notices say client contracts were withheld from auditors. Open question
• The film (00:25:03) asks who “may have encouraged him to fake his data and promote remdesivir.” We found no document linking Desai to Gilead or to remdesivir money. Open question

Consequences

• No criminal charges and no civil fraud case found. The film (00:25:28) says “Sapan Desai has not been prosecuted,” and we found no DOJ, state attorney-general or court record charging him over Surgisphere. Documented (absence of a record, as of October 2026) In February 2025 Broken Truth asked whether the FBI would open a criminal investigation; no investigation is known. Open question Source: Broken Truth (Feb. 4, 2025)
• Illinois: his physician-and-surgeon license was relinquished effective May 18, 2020 — before the Lancet paper ran — and his controlled-substance license went inactive May 20, 2020. Documented Sources: IDFPR license lookup (via Broken Truth); The Scientist
• Ohio: he obtained a new license on Sept. 25, 2020 and days later asked to inactivate it, writing that he would “not be practicing medicine in the state of Ohio.” The State Medical Board cited him (notice mailed May 11, 2023) for failure to cooperate: he declined an investigator interview and did not comply with deposition subpoenas. Permanent surrender/revocation took effect Sept. 13, 2023. Documented Sources: Ohio eLicense, License 35.140628; Broken Truth (Aug. 14, 2023)
• Illinois discipline: IDFPR case 2023009666 placed his license on permanent surrender effective Aug. 3, 2024, “due to Respondent’s Ohio license being permanently surrendered in September 2023 for failing to cooperate with an investigation by the Ohio Medical Board.” Documented Source: IDFPR license lookup (via Broken Truth)
• American Board of Surgery: in August 2024 Broken Truth reported Desai was still board-certified despite holding no license and wrote to the ABS; by February 2025 Broken Truth reported the certification had been revoked. Documented (via Broken Truth; the ABS lookup was unavailable when last checked) Sources: Broken Truth (Aug. 22, 2024); Broken Truth (Feb. 4, 2025)
• The license actions were for not cooperating with the medical board, not a finding about the COVID data. Documented
• Malpractice verdict (not COVID-related): on Sept. 29, 2023 a Cook County jury returned a $10.2 million verdict for a patient whose leg was amputated after 2017 surgery at Northwest Community Hospital; the plaintiffs’ firm says the jury found Desai’s negligence led to the amputation. Documented (plaintiffs’ firm release; post-trial status not confirmed) Source: Clifford Law Offices (Oct. 1, 2023)
• In 2020 the Guardian reported he had been named in three earlier malpractice suits, unrelated to Surgisphere; he told The Scientist any lawsuit against him was “unfounded.” Documented (reporting) Source: Guardian (Jun. 3, 2020)

Where is he now

• No active medical license found in Illinois or Ohio. Broken Truth (Aug. 2024): “no longer licensed in any other state we can find.” Documented (Illinois and Ohio)
• The film (00:23:46) says he “turned up in Massachusetts” as an “expert witness for hire,” citing a 2023 Expert Institute directory profile. That page no longer shows a Desai profile. Allegation (current status unconfirmed) Source: Expert Institute URL
• Surgisphere has been described as “now-defunct.” Documented (reporting) Source: The Scientist (Oct. 2020)
• Broken Truth (Feb. 2025): “For over four years Dr. Sapan Desai has dodged justice, refused to cooperate with investigations, and avoided journalists.” Allegation (Broken Truth’s characterization; the non-cooperation matches the Ohio board record)

What the record does not show yet

• Surgisphere’s revenue, clients and contracts, and any profit from the COVID studies. Gap
• Any industry payments to Desai (CMS Open Payments not yet checked), including from Gilead. Gap
• Current ABS certification status on the live lookup, and Surgisphere’s corporate dissolution record. Gap
• Docket number and post-trial or appeal status of the $10.2 million malpractice verdict. Gap
• What Desai does for work today, and whether he holds a license in any other state. Gap

Last reviewed October 2026. This profile is updated as new records surface. Corrections: Press@EpidemicOfFraud.com

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