BMJ  2007;335:370-373 (25 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.39304.486146.AD

Feature

Research ethics

Hyperactivity in children: the Gillberg affair

London

What drove members of a highly respected psychiatric research group to defy the Swedish courts and destroy 15 years' worth of irreplaceable data? A decade after the Gillberg affair began, Jonathan Gornall examines the facts

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

Over one weekend in May 2004, three researchers in the University of Gothenburg's department of child and adolescent psychiatry shredded tens of thousands of documents, destroying all data from a 15 year longitudinal study following 60 Swedish children with severe attention deficit disorders.

What became known as the Gillberg affair began in 1996, at a community summer party on the Swedish island of Resö. Among the guests were Leif Elinder, a paediatrician recently returned to Sweden after several years spent working abroad, and Christopher Gillberg, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Gothenburg University.

The men had known each other since childhood, when they had met on the island most summers. Professor Gillberg had since become a world expert in autism and attention deficit disorder and a leading proponent of deficits in attention, motor control, and perception (DAMP), a Nordic concept developed in the 1970s to describe a combination of . . . [Full text of this article]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    StumbleUpon    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Articles

Profound ethical issues were smoothed over

Aubrey Blumsohn
BMJ 2007 335: 629. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Extremely low birth weight is linked to risk of chronic illness

Susan Mayor
BMJ 2005 331: 180. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Use of stimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: FOR

David Coghill
BMJ 2004 329: 907-908. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Destruction of data prompts calls for Swedish agency to investigate research misconduct

Caroline White
BMJ 2004 329: 72. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Evidence and belief in ADHD

Morris Zwi, Paul Ramchandani, and Carol Joughin
BMJ 2000 321: 975-976. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Blumsohn, A. (2007). Profound ethical issues were smoothed over. BMJ 335: 629-629 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

An extraordinary scientist and clinician

Helen Minnis
bmj.com, 25 Aug 2007 [Full text]

Research ethics and ADHD

Christine Puckering
bmj.com, 29 Aug 2007 [Full text]

Rewriting history – the Gillberg affair

Janne Larsson
bmj.com, 31 Aug 2007 [Full text]

Anti-psychiatry

Vanna Beckman
bmj.com, 1 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Larsson: Scientologist - yes or no?

Jonathan Gornall
bmj.com, 2 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Profound ethical issues smoothed over

Aubrey Blumsohn
bmj.com, 2 Sep 2007 [Full text]

A well-researched article by J Gornall

Elisabeth Fernell
bmj.com, 2 Sep 2007 [Full text]

The Freedom of Information Act is a cornerstone in our democracy

Janne Larsson
bmj.com, 3 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Not an article about the Gillberg affair

Douglas J. Keenan
bmj.com, 6 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Jonathan Gornall misses critical ethical research questions

Leif R Elinder
bmj.com, 3 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Gillberg: A further defence

Philip J. Graham
bmj.com, 4 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Author's response

Jonathan Gornall
bmj.com, 6 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Well it's a view

Aubrey Blumsohn
bmj.com, 6 Sep 2007 [Full text]

A further defence of what?

David Marks
bmj.com, 6 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Freedom of Information in Sweden

Philip MJ Wilson
bmj.com, 7 Sep 2007 [Full text]

The fraud accusations cannot be taken seriously

Elias Eriksson
bmj.com, 7 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Gornall article and Freedom of Information in Sweden

Janne Larsson
bmj.com, 13 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Jonathan Gornall is not neutral

Leif R Elinder
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Destruction of data, scientific norms and interesting journalism

Aubrey Blumsohn
bmj.com, 13 Sep 2007 [Full text]

The fraud allegations cannot be taken seriously. Are you joking?

Stuart Alistair Jones
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2007 [Full text]

It's a kind of magic

Jonathan Gornall
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Apology for a slur required

Steven P R Rose
bmj.com, 3 Oct 2007 [Full text]

Industry of Death?

Vanna Beckman
bmj.com, 12 Oct 2007 [Full text]

Assessment for the Swedish Research Council

Denny H Vågerö
bmj.com, 12 Oct 2007 [Full text]

Online poll

Find out more >>