Three journals raise doubts on validity of Canadian studies

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7431.67

BMJ 2004;328:67 (10 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7431.67

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Three journals raise doubts on validity of Canadian studies

Caroline White

London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Suspicions about the validity of research by Professor RanjitKumar Chandra, a prominent Canadian researcher, have been raisedby three journals, including the BMJ.

The latest concern, in an editorial and a letter in the Novemberissue of Nutrition ( 2003;19: 955-6 and 976-80)[Medline], question researchpublished in that journal by Professor Chandra in September 2001 (17: 709-12).

The Nutrition study was a randomised, blind, placebo controlledtrial. It showed that a specific multivitamin and mineral supplementcould improve cognitive function in people aged over 65 years.Professor Chandra, who was the sole author, concluded that thesupplement might delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

The original paper and the most recent letter and editorialquestioning its validity have attracted considerable media attention.

The BMJ's statistical reviewer concluded that the data had "allthe hallmarks of being entirely invented."

The 2001 paper in Nutrition is . . . [Full text of this article]

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