Weekend reads: Hydroxychloroquine paper earns correction; company allegedly fakes COVID-19 data; why retractions fail

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: A clinical trial about COVID-19 by a convicted felon A … Continue reading Weekend reads: Hydroxychloroquine paper earns correction; company allegedly fakes COVID-19 data; why retractions fail

A convicted felon wants people to enroll in a COVID-19 clinical trial. What could go wrong?

Richard Fleming, a felon convicted of health care fraud who has been debarred by the US Food and Drug Administration, would like to invite you to participate in a clinical trial. Fleming has registered a study on ClinicalTrials.gov to evaluate what he calls the “Fleming Method for Tissue and Vascular Differentiation and Metabolism” — a … Continue reading A convicted felon wants people to enroll in a COVID-19 clinical trial. What could go wrong?

An attempt at a triple play seems likely to result in a retraction

A group of researchers in China is teetering on the edge of losing a paper because they have apparently tried to publish it three times. Our story starts in Turkey, home to Taner Kemal Erdag, the editor in chief of Turkish Archives of Otorhinolaryngology. In August 2018, Erdag received a submission titled “Increased maternal serum … Continue reading An attempt at a triple play seems likely to result in a retraction

What it takes to correct the record: Autopsy of a COVID-19 corrigendum

We’ve been keeping track of retracted coronavirus papers, but what about corrections? Here’s a guest post from Richard Jones of Cardiff University about a paper that earned widespread media coverage but turned out to be wrong. According to our best knowledge, this is the first report on COVID-19 infection and death among medical personnel in … Continue reading What it takes to correct the record: Autopsy of a COVID-19 corrigendum

JAMA journal retracts well-publicized paper linking doctor burnout to patient safety

A JAMA journal has retracted a 2018 paper linking physician burnout to poor patient care, after a misconduct inquiry found evidence of shoddy work but not data fabrication. The article, “Association between physician burnout and patient safety, professionalism, and patient satisfaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” was published in JAMA Internal Medicine by a group … Continue reading JAMA journal retracts well-publicized paper linking doctor burnout to patient safety

A ‘very cautious’ process: Journal retracts reviews by anesthesiologist found to have committed fraud a decade ago

A journal has retracted three review articles by Joachim Boldt, the German anesthetist who currently occupies the second spot on the Retraction Watch leaderboard with 103 retractions.  The reviews, which appeared in Intensive Care Medicine, cover articles by Boldt that were published both well before and the same year as his scandal broke in 2010.  … Continue reading A ‘very cautious’ process: Journal retracts reviews by anesthesiologist found to have committed fraud a decade ago

Weekend reads: Revelations about a controversial COVID-19 study; weaponizing uncertainty; a ‘super-spotter’ of duplicated images

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. Sending thoughts to our readers and wishing them the best in this uncertain time. The week … Continue reading Weekend reads: Revelations about a controversial COVID-19 study; weaponizing uncertainty; a ‘super-spotter’ of duplicated images

Covid-19 and sex? Rapid-fire acceptance leads to hasty withdrawal of paper

The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology has taken down a letter on whether people should abstain from sex during the coronavirus pandemic, but the editor says the article is not being retracted.  Meanwhile, researchers in France have retracted a paper in which they’d claimed to have found  replication of the virus that causes … Continue reading Covid-19 and sex? Rapid-fire acceptance leads to hasty withdrawal of paper

Weekend reads: A COVID-19 conspiracy theory; a 15-year-old publishes in NEJM; the need for speed

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. Sending thoughts to our readers and wishing them the best in this uncertain time. The week … Continue reading Weekend reads: A COVID-19 conspiracy theory; a 15-year-old publishes in NEJM; the need for speed

Materials scientist up to nine retractions

An itinerant materials scientist whose former lab head has accused publicly of misconduct is up to nine retractions for manipulating his data.  We last wrote about Hossein Hosseinkhani in 2016, after he’d lost seven papers stemming from his time as a researcher in the lab of Yasuhiko Tabata, of the Institute for Frontier Life and … Continue reading Materials scientist up to nine retractions