Search Results for: medical

Drug company withdraws court motion requesting retraction of papers critical of its painkiller

A drug maker has blinked in a lawsuit against the leading anesthesiology society in the United States, along with several anesthesiology researchers, who it claims libeled the company in a series of articles and other materials critical of its main product.  As we reported last month, Pacira Biosciences, which makes the local anesthetic agent Exparel, … Continue reading Drug company withdraws court motion requesting retraction of papers critical of its painkiller

“Yep, pretty slow”: Nutrition researchers lose six papers

Six months after we reported that journals had slapped expressions of concern on more than three dozen papers by a group of nutrition researchers in Iran, the retractions have started to trickle in.  But clock started nearly two years ago, after data sleuths presented journals with questions about the findings in roughly 170 papers by … Continue reading “Yep, pretty slow”: Nutrition researchers lose six papers

“We didn’t want to hurt them. We are polite”: When a retraction notice pulls punches

A group of anesthesiology researchers in China have lost their 2020 paper on nerve blocks during lung surgery after finding that the work contained “too many” errors to stand. But after hearing from the top editor of the journal, it’s pretty clear “too many errors” was a euphemism for even worse problems. The article, “Opioid-sparing … Continue reading “We didn’t want to hurt them. We are polite”: When a retraction notice pulls punches

Who owns your thesis data? We do, says one university, prompting retraction

Here’s a story that’s likely to strike a sour chord with graduate students.  A researcher in Italy has lost his 2020 paper, based on work he conducted for his doctoral thesis, after the university claimed that he didn’t have the right to publish the data.  The paper, “Musical practice and BDNF plasma levels as a … Continue reading Who owns your thesis data? We do, says one university, prompting retraction

Authors yank ketamine study, hoping it will go away without attention, and journal obliges

The authors of a paper on the antidepressant effects of ketamine have retracted their article for a lack of reproducibility — but readers have no way of knowing that because the journal declined to say as much in the retraction notice. If that sounds like a tale from the pages of the Journal of Neuroscience, … Continue reading Authors yank ketamine study, hoping it will go away without attention, and journal obliges

Weekend reads: Allegations about exploitative research; COVID-19 retractions; how to get cited more often

Before we present this week’s Weekend Reads, a question: Do you enjoy our weekly roundup? If so, we could really use your help. Would you consider a tax-deductible donation to support Weekend Reads, and our daily work? Thanks in advance. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Ecologist who lost thesis awards earns expressions of concern after … Continue reading Weekend reads: Allegations about exploitative research; COVID-19 retractions; how to get cited more often

Paper on ‘energy medicine’ retracted after reader complaints

An integrative health journal has retracted a 2019 paper two months after issuing an expression of concern about the article distancing itself from the work.  The paper, which appeared in Global Advances in Health and Medicine, was a review of “energy medicine” by Christina Ross, of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.  As we reported … Continue reading Paper on ‘energy medicine’ retracted after reader complaints

Prominent Chinese scientist failed to disclose company ties in COVID-19 clinical trial paper

One of China’s leading scientists in the fight against COVID-19 failed to disclose ties to a pharmaceutical company in a paper stemming from a clinical trial, Retraction Watch has learned. A co-author on the paper is married to the daughter of that pharmaceutical company’s founder, who herself sits on the firm’s board of directors.  Nanshan … Continue reading Prominent Chinese scientist failed to disclose company ties in COVID-19 clinical trial paper

Mask study was “misleading” and misquotes citations, says Elsevier

Three days after we reported that Elsevier would be retracting a paper about COVID-19 and masks whose author claimed a false affiliation with Stanford, the publisher tells us that the “paper is misleading,” “misquotes and selectively cites published papers,” and that the data in one table is “unverified.” As we noted earlier this week: The … Continue reading Mask study was “misleading” and misquotes citations, says Elsevier

On the perils of scientific collaboration from thousands of miles away

Collaborations can be fraught. Ask David Ojcius.  Ojcius, an emeritus professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Merced, and a department chair at the University of the Pacific, is up to four retractions, five corrections and an expression of concern in papers he wrote with collaborators in China and elsewhere.  Ojcius … Continue reading On the perils of scientific collaboration from thousands of miles away