Critical care journal editors release joint statement affirming commitment to ethical conduct of research

In response to an announcement by the German State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz of their initial review of more than 100 articles by Professor Joachim Boldt, Steven L. Shafer, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia, has joined with ten other anesthesiology and critical care journal editors in releasing a joint statement affirming their commitment to ethical conduct of research. In the statement, the Editors-in-Chief commit to retracting any manuscripts by Professor Boldt in their respective journals that report clinical studies without IRB approval.

Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz ("LÄK-RLP"), the State Medical Association of Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, made the announcement today about preliminary results in their investigation into Professor Boldt's articles. This inquiry follows the retraction in October 2010 of Professor Boldt's 2009 article in Anesthesia & Analgesia, "Cardiopulmonary bypass priming using a high dose of a balanced hydroxyethyl starch versus an albumin-based priming strategy" because of lack of IRB approval. To date, LÄK-RLP has been unable to document IRB approval for more than 90 published articles. A final report from LÄK-RLP will be made available in several weeks.

Four editorials about misconduct were placed in the online edition Anesthesia & Analgesia today. The German system of research oversight is reviewed in two editorials, one by Dr. Jürgen Hoffart and colleagues from the Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz, and one by Professor Ulrich Förstermann from Johannes Gutenberg University. These editorials explain why many German hospitals do not have a local IRB, which allowed Professor Boldt to conduct studies without IRB oversight. An editorial by Dr. Shafer reports additional findings from Klinikum Ludwigshafen demonstrating that Professor Boldt's retracted study was fabricated. The fourth editorial by Drs Konrad Reinhart and Jukka Takala examines how the revelation that some of Professor Boldt's research was fraudulent changes our understanding of the safety and efficacy of hydroxyethyl starch solutions.

SOURCE Anesthesia & Analgesia