Virual Medicine And Factual Misconduct In Mexico

Virtual medicine and factual misconduct in Mexico



Horacio Rivera




Human Genetics Doctorate Program, CUCS, Universidad de Guadalajara and División de Genética, Instituto Mexicano delSeguro Social, Ap. Postal 1-3838, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Fax: +523 618 1756
e-mail: hrivera@udgserv.cencar.udg.mx




To the Editor,
In their recent opinion paper in this journal (Ref. 1),Cantú and Figuera have depicted an almost idylic academic ambience in Mexico. In particular, they stressed that the Mexican Network in Molecular Biomedicine (MNMB) aims to further the collaborationof Mexican scientists. They also appear to be very concerned about greed and ethical issues in medicine. Unfortunately, their statements are inconsistent with the facts I summarize in the followingpoints.
1. Cantú, Figuera and other co-workers actually seized cytogenetic data on the fragile X syndrome obtained by a graduate student under my supervision and published them as of their own.Consequently, I wrote up a Letter to the Editor (Ref. 2) which was published only after Cantú (a member of the Editorial Committee) had succeeded in publishing an erratum in which he presented as recognizedby himself many of the errors pointed out in my letter; needless to say that he did not write a reply. Incidentally, the molecular diagnosis heralded in their 1995 article is still unavailable in ourgenetics service. Hence, it seems reasonable to doubt of other molecular diagnoses highlighted in their opinion paper. Another detail is also suspicious: there is no access to the web page of the MNMBannounced in their paper.
2. I wonder how Cantú and Figuera dare to pontificate about ethical issues when their research practices are unethical. For instance, they are experts in republishinggraphic material protected by copy right without the appropriate release (Ref. 3).
3. Likewise, Cantú and Figuera's concern about greed is pathetic. The impressive Cantú's résumé mainly consists of...