The European Society of Cardiology has said it will carefully look into its guidelines following the dismissal of Professor Don Poldermans after it was found he made up data in studies and used patient data without their consent.
“Although we are confident that our Guidelines are supported by reliable data, we are carefully looking into the Guidelines for Pre-operative Cardiac Risk Assessment,” the ESC said in a statement.
Professor Poldermans was dismissed from Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands on the basis of scientific misconduct. Shortly after, the ESC announced he had resigned from his position as chairperson of the task force that created the above guidelines.
In a statement put out by Erasmus, they explained that: “In one study it was found that he used patient data without written permission, used fictitious data and that two reports were submitted to conferences which included knowingly unreliable data.”
Professor Poldermans has been a prolific researcher, authoring more than 500 papers including landmark papers on the use of beta-blockers in surgery patients and perioperative use of extended-release fluvastatin in patients undergoing vascular surgery.