Was message of sudden infant death study misleading?

In January 2005 the Lancet published an analysis of data on babies born to parents who had previously had a baby who died suddenly and unexpectedly.1 John Emery, a highly respected paediatric pathologist and expert on sudden infant death, was listed as the paper's seventh author, although he died in May 2000, more than two years before the first draft was completed and three years before the paper was submitted to the Lancet. The six other authors acknowledged in the paper that Professor Emery was “largely responsible for the setting up of this study and for investigation of the earlier cases” but played no part in drafting it. However, they did not make clear that after Professor Emery's death they recategorised deaths that he had classed as unnatural or of indeterminate cause as natural deaths. Furthermore, evidence of Professor Emery's views shortly before his death in May 2000 suggests that his name has been used to support a conclusion with which he would not have agreed.