Sue -

I am so sorry. Of course all of the stories have emphasised that none of Dr. Reuban's coauthors were involved in the fraud, for whatever that's worth.

And now in this morning's New York Times, Reuban's lawyer states that Baystate officials “were aware of extenuating circumstances,” whatever that means. The paper then suggests that Reuban may have been beholden to Pfizer with respect to a group of studies (from 2002 -2007) that had nothing to do with his work on continuous regional anesthesia. Yet his clinic is clearly stating that he fabricated his results (but not that of his coauthors) in even two of the CRPS studies. Here's three sentence lead-in to the N.Y. Times story:

March 11, 2009

Doctor Admits Pain Studies Were Frauds, Hospital Says

By GARDINER HARRIS

In what may be among the longest-running and widest-ranging cases of academic fraud, one of the most prolific researchers in anesthesiology has admitted that he fabricated much of the data underlying his research, said a spokeswoman for the hospital where he works.

The researcher, Dr. Scott S. Reuben, an anesthesiologist in Springfield, Mass., who practiced at Baystate Medical Center, never conducted the clinical trials that he wrote about in 21 journal articles dating from at least 1996, said Jane Albert, a spokeswoman for Baystate Health.

The reliability of dozens more articles he wrote is uncertain, and the common practice — supported by his studies — of giving patients aspirinlike drugs and neuropathic pain medicines after surgery instead of narcotics is now being questioned. . . . [Emphasis added.]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/he...0reuben&st=cse

Mike