A spate of retractions of scientific papers relating to COVID-19 has the potential to damage public trust in medicine, public health experts warn.
Especially during this time when the world is crying out for good research and answers based on solid science, cheats and frauds undermine public trust in research.
.
The Lancet paper raised alarms about the safety of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19. The NEJM paper investigated the use of blood pressure medications. Study authors requested the retractions after concerns were made about the source of the data for both studies. The NEJM paper influenced the World Health Organization (WHO) to halt studies using the drugs in a large international trial.