in 2001 two researchers and a columbia university fertility expert published a startling finding in a respected medical journal women undergoing fertility treatment who had been prayed for by a religious group were twice as likely to have a successful pregnancy as those who had notthree years later after one of the researchers pleaded guilty to conspiracy in an unrelated business fraud columbia is investigating the study and the journal reportedly pulled the paper from its website no evidence of manipulation has yet surfaced and the studys authors stand behind their data but doubts about the study have added to the debate over a controversial area of research whether prayer can heal illnesscritics express outrage that the federal government which has contributed 23 million in financing over past four years for prayer research would spend taxpayer money to study something they say has nothing to do with science intercessory prayer presupposes some supernatural intervention that is by definition beyond the reach of science said dr richard j mcnally a psychologist at harvard it is just a nonstarter in my opinion a total waste of time and money prayer researchers many themselves believers in prayers healing powers say scientists do not need to know how a treatment or intervention works before testing itdr richard nahin a senior adviser at the national centre for complementary and alternative medicine in the us said the studies were meant to answer practical questions not religious onessince 2000 at least 10 studies of intercessory prayer have been carried out by researchers at institutions including the mindbody medical institute a nonprofit clinic near boston run by a harvardtrained cardiologist as well as duke university and the university of washingtonstate financing of intercessory prayer research began in the mid1990s and has continued under current president george w bushwritten by benedict carey nyt news service