Category Archives: for legal reasons

03Apr / 2013

“Unsolved legal reasons” cause retraction of two biophysics papers

eur biophys jEvery now and then, we see retraction notices that refer vaguely to legal issues. Sometimes, we can dig up the actual reason. But the European Biophysics Journal has two retractions that leave us completely in the dark.

The two notices basically say the same thing. Here’s one:

The Authors in agreement with the Editor-in-Chief of the “European Biophysics Journal”, the European Biophysical Societies’ Association, and the publisher hereby retract the article entitled “Human recombinant α-crystallins: temperature dependence of diffusion coefficients” by Georgalis Y, Braun N, Peschek J, Appavou MS; published online in the “European Biophysics Journal” on January 11, 2013. This article is retracted due to unsolved legal reasons.

And here’s the other:

The Authors in agreement with the Editor-in-Chief of the “European Biophysics Journal”, the European Biophysical Societies’ Association, and the publisher hereby retract the article entitled “Attractive interactions prevail in dilute solutions of human recombinant α-crystallins” by Georgalis Y, Peschek J, Appavou MS; published online in the “European Biophysics Journal” on January 10, 2013. This article is retracted due to unsolved legal reasons.

We have no idea what this means. Appavou, the corresponding author of both papers, hasn’t responded to a request for comment, and neither has the editor of the journal. We’ll update with anything we learn.


Posted by in crystallography retractions, european biophysics journal, for legal reasons, freely available, germany retractions, physical sciences retractions, springer retractions

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31Oct / 2012

Loose lips sink paper on company’s experimental pain drug

A bit of intellectual property indiscretion has led to the retraction of a paper by Korean scientists. Although the details are fuzzy, several of the authors are affiliated with a Korean pharma company called SK.

The paper, “A Novel Carbamoyloxy Arylalkanoyl Arylpiperazine Compound (SKL-NP) Inhibits Hyperpolarization-Activated Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated (HCN) Channel Currents in Rat Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons,” was published in the The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology earlier this year.

According to the retraction notice:

We would like to request a retraction of our paper [1] entitled, “A novel carbamoyloxy arylalkanoyl arylpiperazine compound (SKL-NP) inhibits hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channel currents in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons” by Gehoon Chung, Tae-hyung Kim, Hyewon Shin, Eunhee Chae, Hanju Yi, Hongsik Moon, Hyun Jin Kim, Joong Soo Kim, Seog Bae Oh, from The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology. Vol 16 (4) 237-241, 2012.

We regret to inform that the published paper included a few parts that disclosed confidential information which should have been protected under patent law. We admit that the request for retraction is due to the indiscretion of the authors, and confirmed that editorial committee of KJPP have not conducted any fault in publishing the paper.

SK Biopharmaceuticals — “For the healthy future of our customers” — focuses on diseases of the central nervous system and metabolic ailments. The company has several products for neuropathic pain that are in early stages of development, including SKL-NP. The company describes the compound as

a novel and non-sedating analgesics for neuropathic pain. Through Phase I studies, SKL-NP demonstrated good PK, safety and tolerability. To prove its excellent efficacy potential in humans, SK is planning for POC (proof of concept) studies in various neuropathic pain indications.

Interestingly, despite having company authorship, the paper did not note any industry funding. Instead, the acknowledgement statement merely says:

This work was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University.


Posted by in for legal reasons, freely available, korea retractions, korean journal of physiology & pharmacology, neurology retractions, neuroscience retractions

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19Oct / 2012

Surgery journal issues Expression of Concern when institution can’t confirm case study details “for legal reasons”

The editors of the World Journal of Emergency Surgery have published an Expression of Concern about a paper after they couldn’t verify one of the three case reports in it.

Here’s the notice for “Necrotizing fasciitis: literature review of contemporary strategies for diagnosing and management with three case reports: torso, abdominal wall, upper and lower limbs,” by surgeons from Split and Zagreb, Croatia:

The Editors-in-Chief would like to alert readers that the accuracy of details described in Case III (56 year old male) of this article [1] have been questioned by a reader. Unfortunately, for legal reasons, the authors’ institution has not been able to confirm or refute whether the events reported about the case are accurate. Consequently, readers are advised to interpret the details of Case III with caution.

We contacted one of the editors in chief of the journal for more details, and will update with anything we hear back.


Posted by in biomedcentral, croatia, expression of concern, for legal reasons, freely available, not reproducible, surgery retractions

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03Oct / 2012

Legal medicine journal pulls paper over image goof

Irony alert: The Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, which really ought to know better, is retracting a 2012 article by an Australian researcher that threatened to run afoul of…privacy law.

The article, “A challenging injury interpretation: Could this be a stab wound?” was written by Les Griffiths, of the Clinical Forensic Medical Unit at University of Queensland in Brisbane. According to the notice:

This article has been removed at the request of the author, consistent with Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal. Please see http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

This article contains two autopsy images which could allow identification of the deceased and therefore must be removed to protect their identity. Apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

The article’s abstract certainly seems to raise a good point:

Forensic practitioner should exercise caution in the forensic interpretation of suspicious wounds at death scenes, at least until there is an opportunity to fully explore the wound and its relationship to underlying structures and bony landmarks. This is especially so in cases of apparent suicide. A case is presented which not only illustrates the challenges which may face the examiner at a death scene in injury interpretation, but also, where there remains a lingering doubt that the autopsy did not address all of the concerns expressed by both scenes of crime scientific officers and the forensic medical examiner.

For more from this journal, see Ivan’s writeup of a case report in which doctors blame marijuana-induced psychosis — aka “reefer madness” — for “self-amputation of penis.”


Posted by in australia retractions, breach of ethical policy, elsevier, for legal reasons, freely available, journal of forensic and legal medicine

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13Aug / 2012

Anesthesia journal retracts paper from Estonian researchers in wake of legal inquiry

Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica has retracted a 2008 paper by a group of Estonian researchers who appear to have wound up in legal jeopardy for misrepresenting their work.

Here’s the notice:

Retraction: The following article ‘Spinal 2-chloroprocaine: effective dose for ambulatory surgery’ by A. Sell, T. Tein and M. Pitkänen in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica 2008; 52: 695-699, and first published online on 15 April 2008 in Wiley Online Library (www.wileyonlinelibrary.com), has been retracted at the request of the Tartu University Hospital and the Estonian State Agency of Medicines by agreement with the journal Editor in Chief, Lars S Rasmussen and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. The retraction has been agreed following the conclusion of an investigation conducted by the Estonian legal authorities. The study was not approved as required according to Estonian law and the study design was misrepresented in the article.

The paper has been cited 11 times, according to Thomson Scientific’s Web of Knowledge.

The study is described as being a randomized controlled trial in which:

Sixty-four ASA physical status I-III patients undergoing elective lower limb surgery were randomly allocated to one of the four local anaesthetic groups for spinal anaesthesia in a double-blind manner. The patients (n=16 patients in each group) received 35, 40, 45 or 50 mg of 10 mg/ml isobaric 2-CP.

Rasmussen declined to discuss the nature of the problems with us, but he did confirm that Pitkänen was a member of his journal’s editorial board when the paper was published and still is.

We have tried to reach Pitkänen but haven’t heard back. We’ll update this post if we learn more.


Posted by in Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, anesthesia retractions, behind a paywall, Estonia, for legal reasons, lack of IRB approval, wiley retractions

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