Anesthesia & Analgesia journal receives notification from LÄK for lack of IRB approval in 89 articles

The peer-reviewed medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia received notification from Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz ("LÄK"), the Rheinland State Medical Board, that there was no IRB approval for 89 articles published Dr. Joachim Boldt, including 22 published by A&A from 1999-2009. All 22 articles have now been retraced by Anesthesia & Analgesia. This announcement follows the December 2010 retraction of another article by Dr. Boldt, "Cardiopulmonary Bypass Priming Using a High Dose of a Balanced Hydroxyethyl Starch Versus an Albumin-Based Priming Strategy" (Anesthesia & Analgesia 2009; 109: 1752-1762).

An ongoing investigation at Klinikum Ludwigshafen is comparing the results in Dr. Boldt's research to patient and laboratory records to determine the veracity of his published findings. As noted by Steven L. Shafer, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia, "This is a slow and painstaking process. It is possible that articles retracted for lack of IRB approval may be retracted again for research fraud to provide a full accounting of Dr. Boldt's research. I appreciate the dedication to ethical conduct of research demonstrated by Landesärztekammer Rheinland-Pfalz in pursuing their investigation into status of IRB approval for Dr. Boldt's studies, and the commitment of considerable time and expense by Klinikum Ludwigshafen in their ongoing investigation of the integrity of Dr. Boldt's findings."

Source: Anesthesia & Analgesia