DOCSLIB.ORG

GMC Prosecution Exploits Vaccine Damaged Children with Autism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
GMC Prosecution Exploits Vaccine Damaged Children with Autism The General Medical Council’s FITNESS TO PRACTISE PANEL HEARING of Dr Andrew Wakefield, Professor John Walker-Smith & Professor Simon Murch Martin J Walker Contents 1. Countdown to Character Assassination 2. The Indictment 3. The Hearing Opens 4. The Hearing Trundles On 5. Prosecuting For The Defence 6. A Massive Abuse of Process 7. The Utter Irrelevance of Professor Salisbury 8. Dealers in Second Hand Words 9. Expert in What? 10. Grub Street Medicine 11. The Defence Opens to a Prosecution Continuing Downhill 12. Last Day of Reckoning 13. The cross-examination begins, begins, begins, begins 14. The Patients of Job 15. Just When You Thought it was Safe to go Back in the Water 16. A Lifetime's Defence in the Court of Dunces 17. Tell me, how many forks are in your tongue? 18. GMC Prosecution Exploits Vaccine Damaged Children with Autism 19. And Your Conscience Miss Smith? 20. The Plot Thins and Humbug Sets in 21. Miss Smith and Her Junior Warlocks Stir the Brew 22. A Brief Stopover in Another Reality 23. The Big Question 24. The Circus On Euston Road 25. The Worm in the Bread 26. A sudden Silence Descends on the GMC 27. A Right Palaver 28. This Contemptuous Hearing 29. Broken English 30. Swimming in the Shallows 31. Deeper into the Shallows 32. The End of Mr Miller's Closing Speech 33. Eye Witness Report from the GMC Wakefield, Walker-Smith, Murch Hearing 34. Counterfeit Law: And They Think They Have Got Away With It 35. Counterfeit Law, Part 2: A Tale of Two Trials 36. Counterfeit Law, Part 3: Houdini Horton 37. Return to the House of Lies 38. Journalist with No Medical Training Solves Mystery of Enterocolitis! 39. The Bolted Horse 40. The UK GMC Panel: A Sinister and Tawdry Hearing Countdown to Character Assassination 1990 Early in the 1990s Dr Wakefield’s research into the causes of Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory disease of the lower intestine, moved on to consider the possible role of wild or vaccine strain measles virus. 1990 – 1997 A number of patients presenting with a pervasive development disorder and gut problems were referred to the Royal Free Hospital. In most of the initial cases parents (or the child’s GP) reported a temporal association between onset of symptoms and exposure to MMR vaccine. Wakefield and others were some of the first doctors in the country who sought to develop an understanding of the condition affecting these children. In these cases there appeared to be a possible link between measles virus, inflammatory bowel disease and autistic-like regression. 1998 Dr Wakefield and 12 other doctors and scientists at the Royal Free Hospital published an initial case series of 12 children in the Lancet. At a press conference following publication, Dr Wakefield suggested that it might be wise to return to single vaccines whilst research continued into the possible link between MMR, inflammatory bowel disease and autistic- like regression in a subset of children post-vaccination. Following this statement, Dr Wakefield became the subject of an all out attack by the government, science lobbies and the pharmaceutical industry. Eventually his funding was withdrawn, his contract at the Royal Free was not renewed and he was forced to leave his post. These events prompted many people to further question the safety of the MMR vaccine. 2003 In 2003, Sunday Times journalist Brian Deer published a long ‘expose’ of Dr Wakefield, accusing him of a number of acts of professional, regulatory, ethical and legal misconduct. The article, which quoted a contribution from the Minster of Health, suggested that Dr Wakefield should be reported to the General Medical Council (GMC) of the UK. Following the article and a subsequent television programme, the GMC began framing charges against Dr Wakefield. 2007 After a three and a half year wait with the charges hanging over him, during which the government vaccine policy continued relatively unchanged and Dr Wakefield’s public reputation was destroyed, he and two other doctors, Professor Walker-Smith and Professor Simon Murch were arraigned before the GMC panel on over 80 charges of professional misconduct. The hearing opened on July 16th 2007. The GMC hearing is scheduled to last for three months. The Indictment Like the rest of this affair, the indictment is a complex document. Below, are the main charges as they are drawn up against Dr Andrew Wakefield. Both Professor Walker- Smith and Professor Simon Murch have similar, but a lesser number, of charges. The charges as they are laid out below are bereft of both the background detail, and obviously, the defence rebuttal. In relation to the Legal Aid Board, Dr Wakefield is charged that: He was dishonest, misleading and in breach of his duty in managing finances and in breach of his duty in accounting for funds. In relation to research and Ethics Committee Approval, and in relation to eleven children whose cases were reported in the Lancet paper, Dr Wakefield is charged that: He carried out research on children which did not meet the inclusion criteria laid down by the ethics committee, and who did not meet the time criteria of the study given approval. He ‘ordered’ investigations to be carried out without the paediatric qualifications to do so. That such investigations and research were contrary to the clinical interests of the children involved. That he caused such investigations to be carried out without some children being assessed first by a neurological or psychiatric expert. That he caused some investigations to be carried out which were not clinically indicated. In relation to the Lancet Paper (28 February 1998), Dr Wakefield is charged that: In reporting a link between MMR and a regressive autistic state, as he did in the Lancet, he was dishonest, irresponsible and misleading. This charge amounts to spreading ‘alarm and despondency’ Clearly the science lobby, the pharmaceutical companies and various government departments consider it ethically correct to ‘draw a line under’ any research whose results reflect badly on their product or their political approach. In reporting cases of children who for various reasons fell beyond the inclusive criteria of the ethics committee, he acted, dishonestly, irresponsibly and contrary to ensuring the provision of accurate information. In relation to the Lancet paper, Dr Wakefield is charged that he failed to declare disclosable interests with respect to funding which he received from legal aid. In relation to Transfer Factor, Dr Wakefield is charged that in relation to one child who was prescribed Transfer Factor, he acted against the clinical interests of this child and abused his position of trust as a medical practitioner. At the time of his son’s birthday party, he took blood from children, paid them £5 for so doing and later recounted the incident at a presentation in March 1999. In doing these things, he did not have ethics committee approval, carried out the procedure in an inappropriate social setting, offered children inducements, showed a callous disregard for the suffering and pain of the children involved, abused his position of trust and brought the medical profession into disrepute. The Hearing Opens Monday July 16 Inevitably the atmosphere inside the building was quite different from that outside. Inside the glass shell, there was a feeling of being in an underwater bubble. Anyone entering was greeted by an almost entirely black security personnel, attractively dressed young women with fixed smiles and confident young men in casual dress. On the third floor, through two sets of glass doors past a lounge area and the doors to the rooms provided for the press, off a corridor on the right is the entrance to the hearing room. All attendees in the public gallery and members of the press are searched before entering the long room. About 60 foot long and 40 feet wide, the room is flanked by glass panels down one of its long walls. The atmosphere is one of quiet efficiency. There are between 30 and 40 participants in the hearing. The defendants and the adjudicators sit facing each other, the doctors with their legal teams are down the left hand side and the panel and GMC clerks down the right hand side. It is difficult to imagine that this long mainly white room, with an oblong of tables in its centre, will be the daily place of work for the three doctor defendants in this case. For the next three months these highly trained doctors will have to defend many of the professional decisions which they have made over the last decade. Things that ‘just happened’ and that carried no particular importance at the time could now, in the light of this room, spell the end to their medical careers. The room is not really like a court room, there is no central point of authority, although the principal prosecutor for the GMC, Miss Smith, sits at one end of the rectangular tables, she is not sitting higher than anyone else and is sometimes hardly noticeable amidst the books, boxes and reading rests that surround her. Nor are the ‘accused’ sitting together in a dock of any kind but dispersed amongst their lawyers. Almost everyone in the room, outside the public area, is wearing black, its deadness only interrupted by the silver hair and white shirts of the men and on some women brief touches of ochre or translucent white of arms and legs. There is a round and almost classic clock on the wall at the far end of the room, on its face time passes very slowly. The first days of any juridical hearings, whether they be at the Old Bailey or the General Medical Council (GMC) are always the worst for defendants.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health British Paediatric Surveillance Unit
    Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health British Paediatric Surveillance Unit 14th Annual Report 1999/2000 The British Paediatric Surveillance Unit always welcomes invitations to give talks describing the work of the Unit and makes every effort to respond to these positively. Enquiries should be directed to our office. The Unit positively encourages recipients to copy and circulate this report to colleagues, junior staff and medical students. Additional copies are available from our office, to which any enquiries should be addressed. Published September 2000 by the: British Paediatric Surveillance Unit A unit within the Research Division of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 50 Hallam Street London W1W 6DE Telephone: 44 (0) 20 7307 5680 Facsimile: 44 (0) 20 7307 5690 E-mail: [email protected] Registered Charity No. 1057744 ISBN 1 900954 48 6 © British Paediatric Surveillance Unit British Paediatric Surveillance Unit - 14 Annual Report 1999-2000 Compiled and edited by Richard Lynn, Angus Nicoll, Jugnoo Rahi and Chris Verity Membership of Executive Committee 1999/2000 Dr Christopher Verity Chairman Dr Angus Clarke Co-opted Professor Richard Cooke Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Research Division Dr Patricia Hamilton Co-opted Professor Peter Kearney Faculty of Paediatrics, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Dr Jugnoo Rahi Medical Adviser Dr Ian Jones Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health Dr Christopher Kelnar Co-opted Dr Gabrielle Laing Co-opted Mr Richard Lynn Scientific Co-ordinator
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Analysis of Medical Opinion Evidence in Child Homicide Cases
    A critical analysis of medical opinion evidence in child homicide cases Sharmila Betts B.A. (Hons.), University of Sydney, 1985 M. Psychol., University of Sydney, 1987 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Law, The University of New South Wales (Sydney). i ii iii Acknowledgements No way of thinking or doing, however ancient, can be trusted without proof. Henry David Thoreau I am a Clinical Psychologist practicing since 1987. My time at a tertiary level Child Protection Team at The Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, Australia brought to my attention the pivotal role of medical opinion evidence in establishing how children sustained injuries, which were sometimes fatal. This thesis began in a Department of Psychology, but I transferred to a Law Faculty. Though I am not a lawyer, the thesis endeavours to examine medico-legal and psychological aspects of sudden unexplained infant deaths. It sets itself the task of addressing important questions requiring rigorous and critical analysis to ensure accuracy and justice is achieved. I hope my thesis sheds light on this complex issue. Gary Edmond has been a mentor, guide and staunch critic. I am deeply grateful that he trusted a novice to navigate this perplexing field of inquiry. Emma Cunliffe has provided clarity in an area shrouded in uncertainty. Their patience, support and faith have enabled me to crystalise and formulate my fledgling insights into a dissertation. I am indebted to Natalie Tzovaras, Monique Ross, Katie Poidomani, and Janet Willinge for their administrative support. My husband, Grant, posed the question that started my journey - ‘how do doctors know the injuries were deliberately inflicted?’ Through my many doubts and fears, he iv maintained a trust in my ability to address this question and helped me return time and again to the seemingly overwhelming task before me.
    [Show full text]
  • Autism and MMR Vaccine Study an 'Elaborate Fraud,' Charges BMJ Deborah Brauser Authors and Disclosures
    Autism and MMR Vaccine Study an 'Elaborate Fraud,' Charges BMJ Deborah Brauser Authors and Disclosures January 6, 2011 — BMJ is publishing a series of 3 articles and editorials charging that the study published in The Lancet in 1998 by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues linking the childhood measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to a "new syndrome" of regressive autism and bowel disease was not just bad science but "an elaborate fraud." According to the first article published in BMJ today by London-based investigative reporter Brian Deer, the study's investigators altered and falsified medical records and facts, misrepresented information to families, and treated the 12 children involved unethically. In addition, Mr. Wakefield accepted consultancy fees from lawyers who were building a lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers, and many of the study participants were referred by an antivaccine organization. In an accompanying editorial, BMJ Editor-in-Chief Fiona Godlee, MD, Deputy BMJ Editor Jane Smith, and Associate BMJ Editor Harvey Marcovitch write that there is no doubt that Mr. Wakefield perpetrated fraud. "A great deal of thought and effort must have gone into drafting the paper to achieve the results he wanted: the discrepancies all led in 1 direction; misreporting was gross." A great deal of thought and effort must have gone into drafting the paper to achieve the results he wanted: the discrepancies all led in 1 direction; misreporting was gross. Although The Lancet published a retraction of the study last year right after the UK General Medical Council (GMC) announced that the investigators acted "dishonestly" and irresponsibly," the BMJ editors Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Brave New World of Zero Risk: Covert Strategy in British Science Policy
    Brave New World of Zero Risk: Covert Strategy in British Science Policy Martin J Walker Slingshot Publications September 2005 For Marxists and neo liberals alike it is technological advance that fuels economic development, and economic forces that shape society. Politics and culture are secondary phenomena, sometimes capable of retarding human progress; but in the last analysis they cannot prevail against advancing technology and growing productivity. John Gray1 The Bush government is certainly not the first to abuse science, but they have raised the stakes and injected ideology like no previous administration. The result is scientific advisory panels stacked with industry hacks, agencies ignoring credible panel recommendations and concerted efforts to undermine basic environmental and conservation biology science. Tim Montague2 A professional and physician-based health care system which has grown beyond tolerable bounds is sickening for three reasons: it must produce clinical damages which outweigh its potential benefits; it cannot but obscure the political conditions which render society unhealthy; and it tends to expropriate the power of the individual to heal himself and to shape his or her environment. Ivan Illich3 Groups of experts, academics, science lobbyists and supporters of industry, hiding behind a smoke screen of `confidentiality' have no right to assume legislative powers for which they have no democratic mandate. The citizens and their elected representatives are ethically competent to democratically evaluate and shape their own future. Wilma Kobusch4 1 The New Yorker. Volume 52, Number 13 · August 11, 2005. John Gray, ‘The World is Round’. A review of The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L.
    [Show full text]
  • Radio Times, January 24, 1947
    Radio Times {lncorporaling World·J(adiol January 24,-1947, BBC PROGRAMMES __ FOR Vol.. 94, No •. 1217. Registered at the ~.P.O. as a Newspaper WELSH EDITION Jan. 26 Feb. I TWOPENCE JOURNAL OF --- TH E SSC P RI C E Home Service ESSEX contributes Sunday's 'Country Magazine' 'CENWCH 1M' YR HEN GANIADAU' A programme of old Welsh songs on Sunday evening HENRY HALL'S GUEST NIGHT from the Finsbury Park Empire, London, on Tuesday 'JOHNNY NOBLE' Story of an East-Coast fisherman Radio version of a 'Theatre Workshop' production: Thursday GERAINT GOODWIN -A portrait of the Welsh novelist by T. Rowland Hughes on Friday 'OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVES' A. A. Milne's play in Saturday­ Night Theatre ~ Light Programme DICK BARTON'S ADVENTURES Every weeknight at 6.45 : omnibus edition on Saturday at 11.0 a.m. 'IGNORANCE IS BLISS' 'The limit-of human stupidity' on Monday evening- "SENSATION' _The suffragette who threw herself in front of the King's horse: Tuesday THE ROYAL TOUR. Their Majestif!S the King and Queen,. accompanied by the two WILFRED PICKLES Princesses, sail for Cape ToWn on Saturday, February I, to begin a nine-weeks' tour of the The' Have a Go !' quiz visits Ayr ynion of South Africa and Rhodesia. It will be the first visit of Their Majesties to South Africa on Wednesday , 'MUCH-BINDING-IN-THE-MARSH' T every stage"of the tour listeners at home will HE Fourth Test Match begins at Adelaide on Thursday and Sunday (Friday; Home) A be kept in touch with the Royal progress T Friday, and as Adelaide is much farther west through the reports of BBC commentators and than Melbourne, play 'starts half-an~hour later than FOURTH TEST MATCH observers.
    [Show full text]
  • The Write Stuff the Journal of the European Medical Writers Association
    wstuf0605-pp.qxp 27.6.2005 12:59 Page 1 The Write Stuff The Journal of the European Medical Writers Association Greetings from Malta www.emwa.org Vol. 14, No.3, 2005 wstuf0605-pp.qxp 27.6.2005 12:59 Page 2 The Write Stuff 77tthh AAuuttuummnn MMeeeettiinngg Radisson Edwardian Hotel, Manchester, UK. Your Executive Committee has the pleasure of inviting you to the 7th autumn meeting in sunny Manchester on the 24th to the 26th of November 2005. Originally founded in the 1st century by the Romans and named Mamucium, Manchester became a city of renown during the industrial revolution at which time it was consid- ered the heart of the British Empire. As a thriving metrop- olis, which still produces more than half of Britain's manu- factured goods and consumables, Manchester has acquired a mixed reputation. However, recent international events of some acclaim, such as the success of Manchester United, the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the soon to be held EMWA Autumn Conference are raising the profile of the city. Our conference will be located at the Radisson Edwardian. A hotel ideally suited to combine the learning and network- ing opportunities available at the EMWA meetings with the cultural delights Manchester has to offer. The programme of workshops will cover many aspects of medical writing, and will also include some of our new Advanced workshops. Keep an eye on our website (www.emwa.org) for regular updates and further details. If you are looking for premier educational experiences for medical communicators the Manchester meeting holds great promise with the added attraction of discovering what the city has to offer.
    [Show full text]
  • University of London Oman and the West
    University of London Oman and the West: State Formation in Oman since 1920 A thesis submitted to the London School of Economics and Political Science in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Francis Carey Owtram 1999 UMI Number: U126805 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U126805 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 bLOSiL ZZLL d ABSTRACT This thesis analyses the external and internal influences on the process of state formation in Oman since 1920 and places this process in comparative perspective with the other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. It considers the extent to which the concepts of informal empire and collaboration are useful in analysing the relationship between Oman, Britain and the United States. The theoretical framework is the historical materialist paradigm of International Relations. State formation in Oman since 1920 is examined in a historical narrative structured by three themes: (1) the international context of Western involvement, (2) the development of Western strategic interests in Oman and (3) their economic, social and political impact on Oman.
    [Show full text]
  • US Repositions Troops in the Mediterranean
    SUBSCRIPTION SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013 SHAWWAL 18, 1434 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Fort Hood shooter Fear and grief Manning creates Arsenal recovers convicted, faces as Lebanon New challenges from poor start, death penalty7 buries its7 dead for US military8 beat20 Fulham 3-1 US repositions troops Max 45º Min 28º in the Mediterranean High Tide 02:18 & 14:44 Obama reviews Syria options; UN pushes for probe Low Tide 08:44 & 21:03 40 PAGES NO: 15908 150 FILS WASHINGTON: The United States is repositioning naval forces in the Mediterranean to give President Barack Obama the option for an armed strike on Syria, although officials cautioned that Obama had made no decision on military action. A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US Navy would expand its presence in the Mediterranean to four destroyers from three. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, en route to Asia, said Obama had asked the Pentagon for options on Syria, where an apparent chemical weapons attack that killed as many as 1,000 civilians has upped pressure on Washington to respond. “The Defense Department has responsibility to provide the president with options for all contingencies,” Hagel said. “And that requires posi- tioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options - whatever options the presi- dent might choose.” He did not elaborate. The defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the USS Mahan, a destroyer armed with cruise missiles, had finished its deployment and was due to head back to its home base in Norfolk, Virginia.
    [Show full text]
  • Read Book the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : BBC Radio 4
    THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES : BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATIONS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Arthur Conan Doyle | 1 pages | 18 Dec 2014 | BBC Audio, A Division Of Random House | 9781910281772 | English | London, United Kingdom The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes : BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations PDF Book The further adventures of the great detective, from the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Baker Street sleuth is soon on the trail. His Last Bow View episodes A set of mystery disappearances present the great detective with a gruesome riddle. Read by Alan Moore. Ask Seller a Question. Sherlock Holmes with Carleton Hobbs - Series 7 homepage. Date: August The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Series 2 homepage. Sherlock Holmes with Carleton Hobbs - Series 3 homepage. Humidifier Wick Filter, Essick, 4. A long-buried secret induces pity and sorrow in the Great Detective. More information about this seller Contact this seller. Holmes has disappeared so Dr Watson reminisces about life with the legendary detective. Buy New Learn more about this copy. Advanced FAQs Blog. Sherlock Holmes Handbook: Second Edition. Seller Inventory From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sherlock Holmes with Carleton Hobbs - Series 3 homepage. Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes homepage. Call [number removed]. The further adventures of the great detective, from the books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Be the first to write a review. All but four of Doyle's sixty Sherlock Holmes stories were adapted with Hobbs and Shelley in the leading roles, and some of the stories were adapted more than once with different supporting actors.
    [Show full text]
  • Radiotimes-July1967.Pdf
    msmm THE POST Up-to-the-Minute Comment IT is good to know that Twenty. Four Hours is to have regular viewing time. We shall know when to brew the coffee and to settle down, as with Panorama, to up-to- the-minute comment on current affairs. Both programmes do a magnifi- cent job of work, whisking us to all parts of the world and bringing to the studio, at what often seems like a moment's notice, speakers of all shades of opinion to be inter- viewed without fear or favour. A Memorable Occasion One admires the grasp which MANYthanks for the excellent and members of the team have of their timely relay of Die Frau ohne subjects, sombre or gay, and the Schatten from Covent Garden, and impartial, objective, and determined how strange it seems that this examination of controversial, and opera, which surely contains often delicate, matters: with always Strauss's s most glorious music. a glint of humour in the right should be performed there for the place, as with Cliff Michelmore's first time. urbane and pithy postscripts. Also, the clear synopsis by Alan A word of appreciation, too, for Jefferson helped to illuminate the the reporters who do uncomfort- beauty of the story and therefore able things in uncomfortable places the great beauty of the music. in the best tradition of news ser- An occasion to remember for a Whitstabl*. � vice.-J. Wesley Clark, long time. Clive Anderson, Aughton Park. Another Pet Hate Indian Music REFERRING to correspondence on THE Third Programme recital by the irritating bits of business in TV Subbulakshmi prompts me to write, plays, my pet hate is those typists with thanks, and congratulate the in offices and at home who never BBC on its superb broadcasts of use a backing sheet or take a car- Indian music, which I have been bon copy.
    [Show full text]
  • Bad Medicine: Parents, the State, and the Charge of “Medical Child Abuse”
    Bad Medicine: Parents, the State, and the Charge of “Medical Child Abuse” ∗ Maxine Eichner † Doctors and hospitals have begun to level a new charge — “medical child abuse” (MCA) — against parents who, they say, get unnecessary medical treatment for their kids. The fact that this treatment has been ordered by other doctors does not protect parents from these accusations. Child protection officials have generally supported the accusing doctors in these charges, threatening parents with loss of custody, removing children from their homes, and even sometimes charging parents criminally for this asserted overtreatment. Judges, too, have largely treated such charges as credible claims of child abuse. ∗ Copyright © 2016 Maxine Eichner. Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law; J.D., Ph.D. I am grateful for comments from and conversations with an interdisciplinary group of readers: Alexa Chew, J.D.; Christine Cox, J.D.; Hannah Eichner; Keith Findley, J.D.; Victor Flatt, J.D.; Michael Freeman, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.; Steven Gabaeff, M.D.; Mark Graber, M.D.; Heidi Harkins, Ph.D.; Clare Huntington, J.D.; Diana Rugh Johnson, J.D.; Joan Krause, J.D.; Michael Laposata, M.D., Ph.D.; Holning Lau, J.D.; Sue Luttner; Beth Maloney, J.D.; Loren Pankratz, Ph.D.; Maya Manian, J.D.; Rachel Rebouche, J.D.; Diane Redleaf, J.D.; Maria Savasta-Kennedy, J.D.; Richard Saver, J.D.; Jessica Shriver, M.A., M.S.; Adam Stein, J.D.; Eric Stein, J.D.; Beat Steiner, M.D., M.P.H.; Judy Stone, M.D.; Deborah Tuerkheimer, J.D.; Catherine Volponi, J.D; and Deborah Weissman, J.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Rising Tide of Plagiarism and Misconduct in Medical Research
    telephone +1 (510) 764-7600 email [email protected] web WWW.ITHENTICATE.COM RISING TIDE OF PLAGIARISM AND MISCONDUCT IN MEDICAL RESEARCH 2013 iThenticate Paper Summary Plagiarism and other forms of misconduct are a growing problem in research. When factored for the increase in articles published, there has been a 10 fold increase in the rate of article retraction over the past 20 years. A quarter of those retractions are due to plagiarism and duplication, often referred to as self-plagiarism, and a larger portion of retractions are fraudulent or fabricated work. Unfortunately, this rise in unethical research is having severe consequences on the medical profession. Not only is money and time being wasted trying to replicate questionable research, precious publication space is also wasted on duplicative papers. More importantly, the ethical issues are beginning to increasingly impact the level of trust that the public puts into the medical profession. Even worse, patients sometimes receive ineffective or harmful treatments based on poor or unethical research. Although there are many potential solutions, there is no single floodgate to restraining misconduct in medical research. Stemming the tide of bad research will require a concerted effort at all levels and roles in the field of medical research—from the researchers that pen new papers to the journals themselves and even the doctors who receive the final publications. Without addressing the issue directly and broadly, the issue and its consequences are only likely to grow. Introduction: The Rise of Plagiarism In the December 2010 issue of the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia, the editor of the publication posted a notice of retraction, stating that they had become aware that a recently published manuscript entitled “The effect of celiac plexus block in critically ill patients intolerant of enteral nutrition: a randomized, placebo- controlled study” had portions of it found to be plagiarized from five other manuscripts.
    [Show full text]