"...Dr. Lipkin, who is also the director of the Center for Infection
and Immunity at Columbia, said he believed the retraction was
premature. =93In my view, the investigation should be allowed to proceed
while we sort out what=92s real and not real,=94 Dr. Lipkin said. Those
with the illness, he added, are =93a group of people who have had their
hopes dashed more than once, and they deserve a full hearing of the
data.=94... "
Fatigue Syndrome Study Is Retracted by Journal
By DAVID TULLER
Published: December 22, 2011
The journal Science on Thursday fully retracted a controversial study
that had linked a mouse leukemia retrovirus to chronic fatigue
syndrome, a disabling illness affecting an estimated one million
people in the United States.
Some data in the study were retracted in September when the Cleveland
Clinic, which participated in the initial research, reported that its
findings had resulted from laboratory contamination. The notice posted
by Science on Thursday cited additional concerns about the research,
although the wording made it clear that not all the original authors
agreed to the retraction.
=93The majority of the authors have agreed in principle to retract the
report, but they have been unable to agree on the wording of their
statement,=94 wrote the editor in chief, Bruce Alberts. The journal was
therefore =93editorially retracting=94 the study on its own, he wrote.
The study, published in October 2009, had been hailed by people with
chronic fatigue syndrome as proof that their condition had an organic
rather than a psychological origin. As a result, some patients began
taking antiretroviral drugs normally used to treat H.I.V. in hopes
that they might work against the suspected retrovirus.
But subsequent research failed to support a link to the mouse
retrovirus, called XMRV, although one study found an association with
related mouse leukemia retroviruses.
The retraction caps a tumultuous two years of research into chronic
fatigue syndrome and represents a surprising twist in the career of
Judy A. Mikovits, the senior author of the Science study and former
research director of the Whittemore Peterson Institute for
Neuro-Immune Disease in Reno, Nev.
As doubts grew among scientists about her findings, the relationship
between Dr. Mikovits and the institute deteriorated. She departed amid
a dispute in September and was jailed briefly last month in California
after accusations by institute officials that she had taken vital
laboratory materials.
The institute, based at the University of Nevada, filed a civil suit,
and this week a judge in Nevada ordered Dr. Mikovits to return any of
the materials in her possession.
Despite the legal morass, Dr. Mikovits is continuing to work on a
study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to clarify
whether XMRV or related mouse leukemia viruses are connected to
chronic fatigue syndrome. Findings from that study, led by Dr. W. Ian
Lipkin, a professor of epidemiology and neurology at Columbia
University, are expected by March.
Dr. Mikovits said in a telephone interview that she remained confident
of retroviral involvement in chronic fatigue syndrome and believed
that any retraction should have waited until the N.I.H. study was
completed.
=93That will be the definitive answer,=94 she said. =93If we=92re wrong and=
we
can=92t reproduce it, then we=92ll be wrong, and that=92s how science
works.=94
She declined to comment on her legal difficulties.
The intense scientific debate over the cause of the illness has
convinced some leading researchers that patients are suffering from an
immune system disorder that is probably set off by one or more
infectious agents, even if XMRV is not one of them. Research and
treatment initiatives are under way at Stanford, Mount Sinai, Columbia
and other leading medical centers.
In a statement, Annette Whittemore, president of the Whittemore
Peterson Institute, said that Thursday=92s retraction =93is just one
chapter in a very important process of scientific discovery.=94
=93We remain focused on the patients who have been underserved and look
forward to the rigorous review of our scientific research,=94 she said.
Dr. Lipkin, who is also the director of the Center for Infection and
Immunity at Columbia, said he believed the retraction was premature.
=93In my view, the investigation should be allowed to proceed while we
sort out what=92s real and not real,=94 Dr. Lipkin said. Those with the
illness, he added, are =93a group of people who have had their hopes
dashed more than once, and they deserve a full hearing of the data.=94
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