Retracted hydroxychloroquine study leads health journals to rethink data sharing
Two major journals in the healthcare space are reviewing what happened and how to move forward with data requirements after a controversial study on the impact of hydroxychloroquine, a drug being evaluated for coronavirus treatment, led to a retraction and backlash.
The study, which was published by the British health journal The Lancet, concluded that coronavirus patients who take hydroxychloroquine have a higher risk of death. Hundreds of healthcare professionals asked The Lancet to clarify the data, which came from electronic medical records, and eventually the publication corrected the study and then retracted the paper altogether.
Since then, The Lancet, as well as the New England Journal of Medicine, have stated they are reviewing their process for dealing with datasets. NEJM published an article on their findings, though the Harvard researchers who co-authored two articles on the study “says he never saw the data and can’t verify its existence,” The Wall Street Journal reported. Further, the publisher of The Lancet and other journals, Elsevier, is reviewing about 20 articles that cite data from the same source––Surgisphere. And more articles containing Surgisphere data have recently been rejected by several journals.
Surgisphere drew fire for its data set after scientists and researchers questioned how the private company amassed the data. The WSJ was unable to confirm data-sharing relationships between Surgisphere and major hospitals and electronic heath records providers.
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Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."