The treatise 'Smokers are less likely to get the new corona' was withdrawn because it did not clarify its connection with the tobacco industry.
A paper claiming that 'smokers are 23% less likely to be diagnosed with a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19)' was found to have been withdrawn. This treatise was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal 'European Respiratory Journal' specializing in respiratory science on July 30, 2020, but later two of the five authors were involved in the tobacco industry. The editors announced the withdrawal on March 4, 2021. The authors do not agree with this withdrawal.
Retraction notice for: “Characteristics and risk factors for COVID-19 diagnosis and adverse outcomes in Mexico: an analysis of 89,756 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases.” Theodoros V. Giannouchos, Roberto A. Sussman, José M. Mier, Konstantinos Poulas an… | European Respiratory Society
Study That Said Smokers Get COVID Less Often Retracted for Big Tobacco Ties
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3aqz99/study-that-said-smokers-get-covid-less-often-retracted-for-big-tobacco-ties
This time, withdrawn from the medical journal is a paper published in July 2020 by Mexican lung cancer specialist José Manuel Mier Odriozola and others. In this paper, Mier et al. Analyzed 89,756 cases of COVID-19 in Mexico, saying that 'people who smoke are 23% less likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19.' I was insisting. The study was widely reported in the media, including the British morning newspaper Daily Mail.
Many researchers, in contrast to Mier et al., Take the position that smoking does not provide protection from COVID-19, some saying, 'Stop smoking to protect your lungs from COVID-19. Some experts say that 'is the best bet ' and ' 100% quit smoking to prepare for the new coronavirus pandemic.' For this reason, it was reported in July 2020 that 'the number of people who quit smoking with COVID-19 is increasing rapidly.'
Report that '1 in 6 smokers quit smoking' due to the new coronavirus --GIGAZINE
However, the withdrawal of Mier et al.'S treatise is not due to the research content. According to a withdrawal statement issued by the European Respiratory Journal, Mier has been a consultant in the tobacco industry for many years. The one immunologist · Konstantinos Poulas Mr. Greek University of Patras is the co-author, 'the tobacco industry-funded Foundation for a world free of tobacco (Foundation for a Smoke-Free World : FSFW) ' and financial He is a senior researcher at NOSMOKE , a Greek NGO with a strong connection. Neither of them revealed the above background when submitting a paper to the European Respiratory Journal.
NOSMOKE is the name of an organization that promotes smoking cessation, but according to the IT news site Motherboard, the organization is funded by the tobacco industry to research the development and safety of e-cigarettes. That is.
Regarding this fact, the European Respiratory Journal found that 'two of the authors of the treatise did not disclose that there was a potential conflict of interest at the time of submission of the manuscript. As a result of careful examination of the contents of the manuscript based on the above information and discussions with the publisher, the European Respiratory Society , if these facts were disclosed at the time of submission of the manuscript, the editorial department will consider publishing the paper. We have a strong consensus that we would not have done so. '
To enact the publication norms of academic papers published Code of Conduct Committee : According to the guidelines of the (Committee on Publication Ethics COPE), the paper is withdrawn just say that did not disclose that there is a potential conflict of interest relationship, It is not usually. However, the editorial department explained that it decided to withdraw this time due to the nature of the relationship that was not published and the delicate content of the treatise related to COVID-19.
'We recognize that there is no suspicion of scientific misconduct, except that the two authors did not disclose conflicts of interest regarding the tobacco industry,' the editorial department said. 'Smokers are COVID- 'The risk of 19 is low,' said Mier et al.'S study itself, which was not fraudulent.
'We believe this withdrawal decision is unjustified and unfounded,' Konstantinos Farsalinos, an immunologist at Patras University and co-author of a treatise that has not been linked to the tobacco industry, told Motherboard. I commented.
'Our study never encouraged smoking,' said one of the co-authors, Theodoros Giannouchos of the University of Utah, USA. It's unclear at this time, but I'm sure smoking isn't a defense (against COVID-19), so I think we should encourage smoking cessation during the pandemic. '
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