Three more Fujii papers fall for lack of IRB approval

Three journals under the JAMA umbrella are retracting papers by Yoshitaka Fujii, the Japanese anesthesiologist accused of research misconduct so sweeping that it might net him the record for most retractions by a single author.

The papers, in the Archives of Surgery, Archives of Ophthalmology and the Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, were published in 2001 and 2005.

Here are the notices, which are essentially identical but for the titles of the articles:

Notice of Retraction: “Prophylaxis With Oral Granisetron for the Prevention of Nausea and Vomiting After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (Arch Surg. 2001;136[1]:101-104)

The article published in the January 2001 issue of the Archives titled “Prophylaxis With Oral Granisetron for the Prevention of Nausea and Vomiting After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy” by Fujii et al¹ is hereby retracted. Allegations have been raised about the scientific integrity and ethical oversight of the research conducted by Dr Fujii.² Our investigation revealed that Dr Fujii and coauthors had not applied to the ethical committee for institutional review board approval regarding this study, and therefore we are retracting this article.

Julie Ann Freischlag, MD

Editor

Howard Bauchner, MD

Editor in Chief

1. Fujii Y, Tanaka H, Kawasaki T. Prophylaxis with oral granisetron for the prevention of nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective randomized study. Arch Surg. 2001;136(1):101-104.

2. Shafer SL Statement of concern regarding Yoshitaka Fujii. http://www.aaeditor.org/FujiiStatementOfConcern.pdf. Accessed April 11, 2012.

Notice of Retraction: “Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting With Antiemetics in Patients Undergoing Middle Ear Surgery: Comparison of a Small Dose of Propofol With Droperidol or Metoclopramide” (Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;127[1]:25-28)

The article published in the January 2001 issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery titled “Prevention of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting With Antiemetics in Patients Undergoing Middle Ear Surgery: Comparison of a Small Dose of Propofol With Droperidol or Metoclopramide” by Fujii et al1 is hereby retracted.  Allegations have been raised about the scientific integrity and ethical oversight of research conducted by Fujii.² Our investigation revealed that Fujii and coauthors had not applied to the ethics committee for institutional review board approval regarding this study published in Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, and therefore we are retracting this article.

Paul A. Levine, MD

Editor, Archives of Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery

Howard Bauchner, MD

Editor in Chief, JAMA

1. Fujii Y, Tanaka H, Kobayashi N. Prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting with antiemetics in patients undergoing middle ear surgery: comparison of a small dose of propofol with droperidol or metoclopramide. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;127(1):25-28.

2. Shafer SL. Statement of concern regarding Yoshitaka Fujii. http://www.aaeditor.org/FujiiStatementOfConcern.pdf. Accessed April 11, 2012.

Notice of Retraction: “A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Single Dose of Ramosetron for the Prevention of Vomiting After Strabismus Surgery in Children: A Dose-Ranging Study” (Arch Ophthalmol.2005;123[1]:25-28)

The article published in the January 2005 issue of the Archives titled “A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Single Dose of Ramosetron for the Prevention of Vomiting After Strabismus Surgery in Children: A Dose-Ranging Study” by Fujii et al1 is hereby retracted. Allegations have been raised about the scientific integrity and ethical oversight of research conducted by Dr Fujii.² Our investigation revealed that Dr Fujii and coauthors had not applied to the ethical committee for institutional review board approval regarding this study, and therefore we are retracting this article.

Daniel M. Albert, MD, MS

Editor, Archives of Ophthalmology

Howard Bauchner, MD

Editor in Chief, JAMA

Published Online: June 11, 2012. doi:10.1001/archophthalmol.2012.1387

1. Fujii Y, Tanaka H, Ito M. A randomized clinical trial of a single dose of ramosetron for the prevention of vomiting after strabismus surgery in children: a dose-ranging study. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(1):25-28.

2. Shafer SL. Statement of concern regarding Yoshitaka Fujii. http://www.aaeditor.org/FujiiStatementOfConcern.pdf. Accessed April 11, 2012.

Fujii’s work didn’t receive much attention, evidently. The paper in the Archives of Surgery received the most citations, with six, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge. The other two had four and three citations.

The notices are silent on the issue of whether Fujii’s data are trustworthy (although they raise the specter of fraud). However, a consortium of journal editors has stated publicly that they believe the researcher has been fabricating his results for decades.