Canadian Medical Journal Issues Corrections on 138 Fictional Case Reports Published Over 25 Years

Summary

A Canadian medical journal, Paediatrics & Child Health, has issued corrections on 138 case reports published over the past 25 years to add disclaimers stating that the cases described are fictional. The journal, published by the Canadian Paediatric Society, had been running these case reports since 2000 as part of its Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program series. The articles typically began with case descriptions followed by 'learning points' containing statistics and clinical data, but never indicated that the cases were fictional. The corrections were necessary because the peer-reviewed articles failed to disclose that the cases were not real patient scenarios.