Caught Our Notice: Columbia researcher up to five retractions

Via Wikimedia

Title: Endotoxaemia during left ventricular assist device insertion: relationship between risk factors and outcome

What Caught Our Attention: Robert J. Frumento first caught our notice in 2013, as a coauthor on a paper retracted with a nonspecific reference to author misconduct.  Three years later, Frumento was clearly identified as having fabricated data and a master’s degree, and added three retractions to his name. Now he’s got a fifth retraction, this one citing missing data and a lack of proof that data blinding was performed correctly.  

Incidentally, some of his intact publications still list his master of science degree, such as this and this.

Journal: British Journal of Anaesthesia

Authors: Catherine M N O’Malley, Robert J. Frumento, Berend Mets, Yoskifumi Naka, and Elliott Bennett-Guerrero

Affiliations: Columbia University, New York, USA

The Notice:

The above article from the British Journal of Anaesthesia ‘Endotoxaemia during left ventricular device insertion: relationship between risk factors and outcome’ by CMN O’Malley, RJ Frumento, B Mets, Y Naka, E Bennett-Guerrero published online on 01 January 2004 by Oxford University Press has been retracted by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Dr Hugh C Hemmings, The British Journal of Anaesthesia Ltd., and Oxford University Press. The retraction has been agreed with the authors following an investigation by Columbia University. Key data collected by Mr Robert Frumento are missing and there is no evidence to support the fact that data blinding was performed correctly.

Date of Article: January 2004  

Times Cited, according to Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science: 5

Date of Notice: August 3, 2017

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