Boston Globe: Medical journal says papers may be fraudulent

[Guest guest]

The publishing of slanted and false medical information in journals is a

real problem and it is being exposed at a regular rate in the recent past, which

makes me happy. I can't wait for a front page article on exposing the lies

in the very harmful " peer reviewed " papers which have hurt those of us

suffering from mold related illnesses. Not only do these false papers hurt

people

in recovering financial losses, more importantly, they keep us from getting

the medical attention we need to get better. The sacred pledge to " First do

no harm " means nothing to some.

Doctors who write these types of papers should see minimum jail time and

steep financial fines. Since there are a few scurrilous medical " professionals "

out there putting out trash that hurts people, then I guess the journals

either have to police the papers better or the papers should not be allowed to

hold as much weight as they do.

Mulvey son

THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

(http://www.boston.com/news/globe/)

Medical journal says papers may be fraudulent

Concerns build over research

By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff | January 21, 2006

Editors at The New England Journal of Medicine said yesterday that they

suspect two cancer papers the journal published may be fraudulent, adding to

mounting concerns over the integrity of biomedical research in top journals.

The lead author of both papers was Norwegian scientist Dr. Jon Sudbo, who is

also suspected of fabricating data for a paper published last year in the

British medical journal Lancet.

Sudbo's research focused on techniques to identify discolored spots in the

mouth likely to develop into cases of oral cancer, and ways to treat the

cancer. Scientists in the field considered the work impressive and hoped it

might

lead to earlier identification of precancerous spots, according to Dr. Bruce

Donoff, dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

The new scandal is jarring because it comes on the heels of another case at

The New England Journal, announced last month, of a high profile paper on the

painkiller Vioxx that the journal's editors say failed to include data on

damaging side effects. At the same time, the scientific community has been

roiled by the case of South Korean researcher Hwang Woo Suk, whose two landmark

papers on creating cloned human stem cells were recently retracted by the

journal Science.

As with Hwang's fabricated work, the two Sudbo papers in The New England

Journal appear to involve the manipulation of images. The Boston-based journal

issued an ''expression of concern " yesterday that pointed to a figure in a

2001 paper that includes duplicated images. The two images are labeled as

representing material from two patients, but they appear to be the same image,

under different magnifications. The duplicates were found by the journal's

edito

rs, who reviewed all the papers written by Sudbo after the problems with the

Lancet paper were announced earlier this week.

The new scandal is likely to add to the pressure on The New England Journal

and other scientific journals to more closely scrutinize their articles

before publication. Papers in top journals can make or break careers, bring in

lucrative research funding, or encourage doctors to adopt a drug or other

product. At the same time, new computer technology makes it even easier to copy

or

alter scientific images -- and a litany of recent cases shows that some

scientists are willing to take advantage of a system built on trust.

''This makes us dead worried, " said Dr. Drummond Rennie, a deputy editor of

the Journal of the American Medical Association who used to work at The New

England Journal. Rennie said that there have been intense discussions at his

journal and others over the last few weeks about what can be done to rein in

scientific fraud. The scientific community has traditionally relied on the

integrity of individual researchers, as well as the fact that impressive

experiments are likely to be repeated by other researchers, revealing any

problems

with the original research.

Now, though, Rennie and other editors are saying that they see the need to

be more proactive in preventing fraud. Earlier this month, the journal Science

announced that it would institute new measures to protect itself against

fabrications. The changes, which other journals are considering, were inspired

by the Journal of Cell Biology, which screens all images for signs of

duplication or other manipulations. Since instituting the policy, the Journal

of Cell

biology has had to reject 1 percent of papers it would otherwise have

accepted for suspected fraud.

''The goal of a journal editor should be to catch these things before

publication if at all possible, " said Mike Rossner, managing editor of the

Journal

of Cell Biology.

Pedersen, a spokeswoman for The New England Journal, said that editors

would not comment on the new case, but that the journal is constantly

reexamining its policies for reviewing papers, including images.

Rossner said that he did not know if his screening program would have caught

the suspect images in The New England Journal paper, because they are

different magnifications. Editors at journals have also been discussing other

measures, such as doing more to disclose authors' potential financial conflicts

of

interest and clarifying the role that individual authors played in the

research.

In addition to the paper with duplicated images, published April 26, 2001,

The New England Journal said it was also concerned about a paper published on

April 1, 2004. The second paper does not have an obvious flaw, but it

involves the same group of patients, according to Pedersen.

When the editors discovered the problem, they notified all of the papers'

authors, as well as Sudbo's institution, the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo,

Pedersen said. Sudbo did not provide any explanation for the duplicated

images, she said.

The editor of the journal Lancet published a statement this week, saying

that he had been informed by officials at the Radium Hospital that they believe

Sudbo invented the data on patients for his Lancet paper. Pedersen said that

investigators at the hospital would now investigate the new concerns, and

that The New England Journal would inform readers of the conclusions.

The papers in The New England Journal investigated a new technique for

predicting whether discolored areas of the mouth, known as leukoplakia, are

likely

to become cancerous. Currently, doctors don't have a good way to determine

how much of a threat they pose, according to Donoff. The papers suggested that

a genetic analysis of the tissue could help predict whether cancer was

likely, Donoff said.

Donoff said that he was surprised to hear of the problems. He said that he

has looked at the images many times, and used them in lectures. Nobody, he

said, ever saw a problem.

Gareth Cook can be reached at _cook@..._ (mailto:cook@...) .

© _Copyright_ (http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright) 2005 The

New York Times Company

[Guest guest]

If I could, I would drink to your statement a thousand

times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

Sue

The publishing of slanted and false medical information in journals is a

real problem and it is being exposed at a regular rate in the recent past,

which

makes me happy. I can't wait for a front page article on exposing the lies

in the very harmful " peer reviewed " papers which have hurt those of us

suffering from mold related illnesses. Not only do these false papers hurt

people

in recovering financial losses, more importantly, they keep us from

getting

the medical attention we need to get better. The sacred pledge to " First

do

no harm " means nothing to some.

Doctors who write these types of papers should see minimum jail time and

steep financial fines. Since there are a few scurrilous medical

" professionals "

out there putting out trash that hurts people, then I guess the journals

either have to police the papers better or the papers should not be allowed

to

hold as much weight as they do.

Mulvey son

[Guest guest]

I think that the punishment for proven pattern of publishing

fraudulent medical information should be severe. If its a medical

professional, they should be placed in some kind of medical probation

for at least a year or two, and if it continues, they should lose

their license, or whatever.

On the other hand, this statute should be structured so that

LEGITIMATE medical researchers who are simply trying to expand the

horizons of medicine RESPONSIBLY should not be exposed to harassment

by angry and often evil 'gatekeepers' - as long as they are behaving

responsibly and clearly performing their oath, *to heal*. (and also

to not steal)

[Guest guest]

that's a wonderful idea, livesimply......but , HOW does that get

accomplished?!

victoria

Re: [] Boston Globe: Medical journal says papers may

be fraudulent

>I think that the punishment for proven pattern of publishing

> fraudulent medical information should be severe. If its a medical

> professional, they should be placed in some kind of medical probation

> for at least a year or two, and if it continues, they should lose

> their license, or whatever.

>

> On the other hand, this statute should be structured so that

> LEGITIMATE medical researchers who are simply trying to expand the

> horizons of medicine RESPONSIBLY should not be exposed to harassment

> by angry and often evil 'gatekeepers' - as long as they are behaving

> responsibly and clearly performing their oath, *to heal*. (and also

> to not steal)

>

>

>

>

> FAIR USE NOTICE:

>

>

>