Poldermans update: Magazine cites lack of informed consent, bogus patient surveys, invented data and more

Larry Husten at CardioBrief has an update on the case of Don Poldermans, a leading Dutch cardiologist who was accused of various iterations of research misconduct. Poldermans was fired last November by Erasmus Medical Center, where he had been head of perioperative cardiac care before the scandal. According to Husten, Jeroen Bax, another prominent Dutch cardiologist … Continue reading Poldermans update: Magazine cites lack of informed consent, bogus patient surveys, invented data and more

193 papers could be retracted: Journal consortium issues ultimatum in Fujii case

A group of editors representing nearly two dozen medical journals has issued an ultimatum of sorts to officials at seven Japanese institutions that once employed Yoshitaka Fujii: Validate the papers of the disgraced anesthesiologist or they will be retracted. Fujii, as we have reported, was fired by Toho University in late February, putatively for failing … Continue reading 193 papers could be retracted: Journal consortium issues ultimatum in Fujii case

Crise de foie: Liver journals retract duplicate biomarker pubs

Two liver journals have retracted articles from a group of Irani researchers who published similar — but not quite identical — versions of the same paper some months apart. A retraction notice in the Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases — which bills itself as the “Official Journal of the Romanian Societies of Gastroenterology” — explains what … Continue reading Crise de foie: Liver journals retract duplicate biomarker pubs

Salami slicing and heart attacks don’t mix: Duplication, lack of transparency lead to retraction

A group of French cardiology researchers have retracted a study of a potential way to rule out heart attacks, after it became clear they had used data from another study without alerting the journal. In an unusually forthright letter accompanying the retraction of “Concomitant measurement of copeptin and high-sensitivity troponin for fast and reliable rule … Continue reading Salami slicing and heart attacks don’t mix: Duplication, lack of transparency lead to retraction

Nature Precedings to stop accepting submissions next week after finding model “unsustainable”

After five years of operation, the Nature Publishing Group is will no longer accept submissions to its preprint server Nature Precedings, having found the experiment “unsustainable as it was originally conceived.” Here’s the announcement sent to all Nature Precedings registrants this morning:

Journal pulls four breast cancer papers for duplication

The journal Breast Cancer: Targets and Therapy, a Dove Medical Press title, has retracted four articles from a group of Indian researchers over what it said were “unacceptable levels” of duplication with other published work. (Such a construction leaves us wondering what might constitute “acceptable levels” of duplication, but that’s for a different post.) The … Continue reading Journal pulls four breast cancer papers for duplication

Five papers by prominent cardiologist Hiroaki Matsubara subject to Expression of Concern

The American Heart Association, which publishes a number of journals, has issued an Expression of Concern about five papers in three of their publications, following allegations of image manipulation. All of the papers include Hiroaki Matsubara, of Kyoto Prefectural University, as a co-author. The notice begins: It has come to the attention of the American … Continue reading Five papers by prominent cardiologist Hiroaki Matsubara subject to Expression of Concern

Journal yanks anemia paper over duplicate data

Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases (that’s one title) has retracted a 2011 paper, “Comparative proteomics reveals deficiency of NHE-1 (Slc9a1) in RBCs from the beta-adducin knockout mouse model of hemolytic anemia,” after learning from a reader that the data it contained were previously published by a competing publication. As the notice explains:

Major fraud probe of Japanese anesthesiologist Yoshitaka Fujii may challenge retraction record

We have learned that a widely published Japanese anesthesiologist is under investigation by his university over concerns that he engaged in repeated fraud for decades that has tainted roughly 180 articles—many of which may be retracted as a result. In a related move, the journal Clinical Therapeutics is retracting papers by the researcher, Yoshitaka Fujii, most … Continue reading Major fraud probe of Japanese anesthesiologist Yoshitaka Fujii may challenge retraction record

Updated: Slate retracts story on Glenn McGee and Celltex following lawsuit threats, as McGee resigns from company

Slate has retracted a story about controversial bioethicist Glenn McGee and his involvement with Celltex Therapeutics, a Texas-based company that says it extracts and banks stem cells from people’s fat. Where the story by University of Minnesota bioethicist Carl Elliott once appeared now sits this editor’s note: