Page 110 of 128
A new record: Major publisher retracting more than 100 studies from cancer journal over fake peer reviews
Springer is retracting 107 papers from one journal after discovering they had been accepted with fake peer reviews. Yes, 107.
To submit a fake review, someone (often the author of a paper) either makes up an outside expert to review the paper, or suggests a real researcher — and in both cases, provides a fake email address that comes back to someone who will invariably give the paper a glowing review. In this case, Springer, the publisher of Tumor Biology through 2016, told us that an investigation produced “clear evidence” the reviews were submitted under the names of real researchers with faked emails. Some of the authors may have used a third-party editing service, which may have supplied the reviews. The journal is now published by SAGE.
The retractions follow another sweep by the publisher last year, when Tumor Biology retracted 25 papers for compromised review and other issues, mostly authored by researchers based in Iran. With the latest bunch of retractions, the journal has now retracted the most papers of any other journal indexed by Clarivate Analytics’ Web of Science, formerly part of Thomson Reuters. In 2015, its impact factor — 2.9 — ranked it 104th out of 213 oncology journals.
Source: Retraction Watch
June 28, 2017
Iron Deficiency: Translating New Evidence into Practice
This article discusses the importance, particularly in high risk groups, of the identification and correct management of iron deficiency.
Tags: Iron Deficiency
June 27, 2017
2 Cases of Legionnaires’ Disease in Newborns Linked to Water Births
Two babies in Arizona who were delivered via “water birth” recently developed Legionnaires’ disease, a type of bacterial lung infection, just days after they were born, according to a new report.
Both infants recovered after being hospitalized, and the cases were unrelated, the report said. But the health experts who investigated the cases “identified numerous gaps in infection prevention for water births” that may have contributed to the babies’ exposure to the Legionella bacteria that made them sick, they wrote in their report.
In the first case, which occurred in January 2016, the baby was delivered by a midwife into a tub filled with tap water. The tub was cleaned and filled right before the delivery, and the baby did not appear to inhale any of the water during birth, the report said.
But a day later, the baby started to have trouble breathing and was taken to the hospital. The baby was found to have both Legionnaires’ disease and a congenital heart condition that was not related to the infection. Legionella bacteria can grow in water systems, including hot tubs, air conditioners and plumbing systems, according to the report, from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maricopa County (Arizona) Department of Public Health.
In the second case, which occurred in April 2016, the baby was born at home in a rented Jacuzzi hot tub with spa jets, the report said. The tub was placed in the mother’s bedroom and was filled with tap water that was heated to 98.0 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 degrees Celsius). The filled, heated tub sat in the bedroom for about a week before the baby’s delivery. During the birth, the mother first labored outside the tub, and then entered the tub only for the delivery, the report said. The baby did not appear to have inhaled any water during birth, the doctors wrote in the report.
But three days after birth, the baby developed a high fever and was taken to the hospital, where the infant tested positive for Legionella bacteria.
Source: Live Science
‘Medical bulimia’: Doctors concerned about stomach-draining device for obesity
A weight-loss device described as “medical bulimia” that drains undigested food from the stomach at the press of a button is among an explosion of new treatments for obesity available in Australia.
As concern continues to grow about obesity, some doctors are alarmed that some treatments in the lucrative market aren’t being adequately researched or followed up.
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration-approved AspireAssist system connects a tube inserted into the stomach to an outside port on the skin of the belly, which is drained into an external device.
Its American manufacturer promises about 30 per cent of food is removed before calories are absorbed into the body when used 20 minutes after a meal.
“I just think it’s medical bulimia,” leading gastroenterologist Matthew Remedios said. “You have to wonder what we’re doing. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but, as a community, we have finite resources and we are spending it on devices like this.”
A TGA spokeswoman confirmed the device was on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods and approved for supply in Australia.
She said patients using it for “gastric drainage” did so under the treatment of a health professional.
Dr Remedios, who said more than half of his patients at Brisbane’s Wesley Hospital were overweight or obese, agreed with other experts that there was an increasing need for medical interventions in patients with a Body Mass Index above 50.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
May 30, 2017
Page 110 of 128
