Boldt’s data were fake in 1996 paper

Update, 4 p.m. EST, 10/29/14: As a commenter points out, we didn’t quite get this one right. The Boldt paper that has been retracted was not previously retracted for lack of IRB approval. Rather, it was a heretofore unretracted article, from 1996, which German investigators have determined contained faked data. We’ve made edits below using strikethroughs, and have changed the headline to better reflect the content. We apologize for the errors.

We’ve commented before on the fact that we’ve noticed there’s often more to retractions whose stated reason is lack of institutional review board (IRB) approval. We can understand editors’ inclination to act as quickly as possible to issue a retraction, the scientific publishing equivalent of jailing Al Capone for tax evasion. But we appreciate it even more when said editors return to the scene of the crime, as it were, when new important details come out.

Case in point: Anesthesia & Analgesia has amended its retraction of a 2009 1996 study by Joachim Boldt — who with nearly 90 retractions once held the record in that department — based on findings that the data in that paper were fabricated.

The article was titled “Cardiopulmonary bypass priming using a high dose of a balanced hydroxyethyl starch versus an albumin-based priming strategy,” “The effects of albumin versus hydroxyethyl starch solution on cardiorespiratory and circulatory variables in critically ill patient.”  had previously been retracted because Boldt had failed to obtain adequate ethics approval for the research. But now comes this, According to the retraction notice from editor in chief Steven Shafer:

In 2009, Joachim Boldt published an article in Anesthesia & Analgesia comparing albumin and hydroxyethyl starch priming cardiopulmonary bypass.1 The study was retracted in December 2010 for lack of IRB approval.2 A subsequent investigation by Klinikum Ludwigshafen determined that the study was fabricated.3

Based on the finding by Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz, the State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz that the studies were conducted without IRB approval, Anesthesia & Analgesia retracted 22 papers by Dr. Boldt in 2011 for unethical conduct of research.4 A subsequent investigation by Klinikum Ludwigshafen found that Boldt’s studies “failed to meet required standards,” included “false data” in at least 10 studies, and found “clear evidence of procedural irregularities and research misconduct on the part of Dr. Joachim Boldt.”

In light of these concerns, Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen undertook an investigation of Dr. Boldt’s work from that institution. This investigation cast doubt on the veracity of Boldt J, Heesen M, Müller M, Pabsdorf M, Hempelmann G. The effects of albumin versus hydroxyethyl starch solution on cardiorespiratory and circulatory variables in critically ill patient. Anesth Analg 1996;83:254–61. Based on evidence of data manipulation reported by Justus-Liebig Universität Giessen to the journal, this paper is hereby retracted.