Their rush to claim credit for this idea undermined facts. Had the two paid attention to facts and the scientific method, they would have figured out that there findings were invalid. As others would later discover, if the experiment had worked as Fleishmann and Pons claimed the two would have been killed by the amounts of energy produced in their palladium. Their mere existence was living proof that the experiment was a scam. This experiment is a classic example of what happens when science goes wrong.
Incorrect information is disseminated to the public and false hope is spread.
Sensationalism of incomplete data not only hurts the researchers involved, but contaminates belief systems of people who would benefit from the information that would be provided. Perhaps the biggest loss here was valuable scientific information that could have been obtained, had the experiment been conducted correctly. Who knows what contributions could have come out of this research had proper scientific methods been followed. A successful project here could have laid the framework for many scientist to come. As Fleishmann and Pons continue their work, perhaps they will be redeemed.