Search Results for: randomized

Letter calls for retraction of yoga weight loss paper

A paper concluding that a specific series of yoga poses is effective at promoting weight loss in obese women has a call for retraction in a letter to the editor of the International Journal of Yoga.  The study followed 87 women for 8 weeks as they completed a regular routine of  yoga, circuit training, or walking on a treadmill. “Suryanamaskar: An equivalent approach towards management … Continue reading Letter calls for retraction of yoga weight loss paper

Weekend reads: Science press releases under fire; a new plagiarism excuse; win $1,000

The week at Retraction Watch featured the retraction of an entire issue of a journal and a renewable energy researcher agree to retract ten papers for recycling, and saw The Australian put us on its list of “30 Most Influential” in higher education for 2016. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:

Oops! Authors accidentally include extra patients in biopsy paper

A paper that compared two gauges of needles to take samples of pancreatic masses has been retracted after authors unintentionally included patients from another trial. “Randomized Trial Comparing the Flexible 19G and 25G Needles for Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration of Solid Pancreatic Mass Lesions,” published a year ago in Pancreas, notes that: A total of 100 patients … Continue reading Oops! Authors accidentally include extra patients in biopsy paper

JAMA retracts osteoporosis paper with manipulated data

A JAMA study on an inexpensive treatment for osteoporosis has been retracted because the first author falsified or fabricated data. We’ve been expecting this one: An investigation at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, the bone researcher’s former workplace, had already revealed issues with the paper. An internal memo sent to staff (available in full here) in October explained … Continue reading JAMA retracts osteoporosis paper with manipulated data

7th retraction for heart researcher who faked patient records

Anna Ahimastos, a heart researcher who faked patient records, has notched her 7th retraction. One more paper is expected to be retracted, according to a spokesperson from her former institution, the Baker IDI Heart & Diabetes Institute in Australia. As with the other retractions, the 2005 paper in Hypertension — about how the hypertension drug ramipril may help alleviate … Continue reading 7th retraction for heart researcher who faked patient records

NEJM pulls letter by heart researcher who faked patient records

A heart researcher who fabricated patient records has notched retraction number six — this time, for a letter in the New England Journal of Medicine. She has two more retractions forthcoming. The retraction comes at the request of Anna Ahimastos’s co-authors, following an investigation into her work by her former workplace, the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes … Continue reading NEJM pulls letter by heart researcher who faked patient records

Osteoporosis paper felled by concerns with “scientific integrity”

A paper suggesting that exposure to sunlight might help prevent hip fractures in the elderly has been retracted, due to duplication and “concerns about the underlying data.” An expression of concern that appeared last July flagged the 2005 paper as containing text that matched another paper with the same first author that was published in 2011. According … Continue reading Osteoporosis paper felled by concerns with “scientific integrity”

JAMA retracts second paper by heart researcher

A heart researcher who fabricated trial participants has notched a second JAMA retraction. The retraction comes at the request of her co-authors, after an investigation by her former employer wasn’t able to confirm that this study was valid. In September, we learned that Anna Ahimastos, who used to work at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, … Continue reading JAMA retracts second paper by heart researcher

Heart researcher who faked patient data gets third retraction

A heart researcher has notched her third retraction, a small 2006 trial in Annals of Internal Medicine which seemed to show that a blood pressure drug could help people with artery disease walk further with less pain. Earlier this year, Anna Ahimastos, formerly a researcher at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, lost a … Continue reading Heart researcher who faked patient data gets third retraction

Journal retracts — and republishes — small study on gamma rays for OCD

JAMA Psychiatry has retracted and republished a paper on a cutting-edge procedure for patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. In the original paper, the authors claimed that three out of eight patients who underwent a procedure that used gamma rays to kill brain cells showed improvements 12 months later (versus zero in the group who underwent a “sham” procedure). But … Continue reading Journal retracts — and republishes — small study on gamma rays for OCD