Japanese university to retract Novartis study- based on fabricated data
Japanese university to retract Novartis study
A Japanese university is to retract a study that touted the effectiveness of a blood pressure drug made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis because it was based on fabricated data.
The move was the latest chapter in a growing scandal over allegations that bogus data were used in a string of Japanese university studies for the drug Valsartan which exaggerated its effectiveness in preventing strokes and angina.
On Wednesday, Tokyo's Jikei University School of Medicine said it would retract research that appeared in respected medical journal The Lancet six years ago.
"We will report the conclusions of our investigation to Lancet so the study can be withdrawn," a university spokesman told AFP.
The school's probe concluded that the research, led by one of Jikei's professors, relied on data analysis by an unnamed former Novartis employee, who was also involved in at least one other school's research which has been thrown into question.
http://www.thelocal.ch/20130731/japanese-university-to-retract-novartis-drug-study