A journal has retracted a 45-year-old case study over concerns that the authors had failed to obtain proper informed consent from the family they’d described.
Part of good governance is recognising when a tough position is just silly. Not too long ago, AHEC took a stance that cell lines, for instance, could still be used even though consent was not a routine part of the process 30+ years ago. There has to be a balance between respect and common sense. In this instance, no one would have noticed if it hadn’t been retracted. Perhaps it should highlight the need to have routine mechanisms in place for consent for case series.
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Stickler syndrome is an inherited disorder marked by defects in the skeleton, eyes and other organ systems. The condition affects roughly one in 7,500 babies in the United States, although the true incidence may be somewhat higher because some cases are mild enough to go undiagnosed.
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According to the retraction notice:
The Editors have retracted this article [1] as is it is not clear whether parental consent was provided for publication of the images and case. Given the age of the article we have been unable to verify this, therefore the article is no longer available online in order to protect the privacy of the individual. Both authors agree to this retraction.
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