Abstract
The article has been retracted as a result of notice received from the author, Yoshitaka Fujii, M.D., that the study described in the article was undertaken without the approval of an institutional ethics committee. The Editor-in-Chief and Publisher have therefore determined that the article failed to meet the ethical standards required by the Journal. Additionally, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, where Dr. Fujii was employed until February 29, 2012, issued a statement in March 2012 regarding its investigation of Dr. Fujii, finding that the study referenced in the article, as well as other studies reference by Dr. Fujii in his published articles, were conducted without the approval of any ethics committee, and therefore "did not conform to the global standard of ethics for clinical studies."
Additionally, the Publisher has been informed by Dr. Michiyo Itakura and Dr. Ken Takasaki, President of Ushiku Aiwa General Hospital, that Dr. Itakura did not participate in the authorship of the article. The Publisher has also been informed by Ushiku Aiwa General Hospital that Yoshitaka Fujii is not affiliated with the hospital. At the time of the article's publication, Dr. Fujii was affiliated with the Toho University School of Medicine.
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