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George Ricaurte retracts his paper published in Science claiming that Ecstasy causes severe dopaminergic depletion and can lead to Parkinson's disease. For a paper critiquing the methodology and conclusions of some of Dr. Ricaurte's other papers, read "Deconstructing Ecstasy" by Dr. Charles Grob. Learn more about this amazing development: April 9, 2004. MAPS issues a report based on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests showing that from 1989-2002, Drs. Ricaurte and McCann received federal grants totaling over $14.6 million dollars for MDMA and MDMA-related research. (A FOIA request for 2003 data has been submitted.) This is a rather amazing amount of money and suggests that Drs. Ricaurte and McCann had some powerful incentives to exaggerate the risks of MDMA. This also speaks volumes about our society's warped priorities in that not a single penny of federal money has been awarded to explore any of the therapeutic uses of MDMA. This is an imbalance that MAPS hopes to rectify over the coming years. April 6, 2004. In an article on good practices and proper conduct of biomedical research published in EMBO reports ("a print and online publication dedicated to providing a variety of sharply focused and rapidly published short papers and review articles in all areas of molecular biology"), Dr. Ricaurte's retraction of his MDMA/Parkinson's paper in Science is used as an example of how "even world-renowned researchers must be vigilant about properly verifying and documenting their work."
April 5, 2004. Video archives of the Peter Jennings special, Ecstasy Rising, are now available. April 1, 2004. Ecstasy Rising. Federal Campaign to Curb Club Drug Use Hasn't Dimmed Its Popularity, ABCNEWS.
March 10, 2004. The Ecstasy Factor - Bad Science Slandered a Generation's Favorite Drug. Now a New Study Aims to Undo the Damage, by Carla Spartos, Village Voice. This is a strong, hard-hiting article. March 2, 2004. DEA Accedes to Ecstasy Test by Kristen Philipkoski, Wired News. This article contains a remarkable quote from George Ricaurte giving qualified support for the MDMA/PTSD study.
February 25, 2004. CNN announces that Ecstasy is Approved for Medical Study.
February 23, 2004. Ecstasy Agonistes A retracted study on a controversial substance raises questions about the reliability of government-sponsored research on drugs, By Thomas Bartlett, Chronicle of Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education's February 25, 2004 colloquy live email
chat with Rick Doblin is available in the
Chronicle archive.
January 26, 2004. NIDA responds to MAPS' FOIA request for documents about Dr.
Ricaurte's MDMA research. January 16, 2004. Rick Doblin has written a paper discussing how the risks of MDMA neurotoxicity have been exaggerated by government officials and government-funded scientists in a manner that has been used to support prohibitionist policies. December 10, 2003. A Bad Batch, by Rebecca Alvania. Baltimore City Paper (Issue #50,12/10-12/16). This is yet another long, powerful article about the flawed MDMA neurotoxicity research of Drs. Ricaurte and McCann. The article is sprinkled with excellent quotes from Rick Doblin and Dr. Charles Grob. December 5 2003. Newsweek Online publishes an interview with psychiatrist Julie Holland on the psychotherapeutic use of MDMA.:
December 3, 2003. THE AGONY OF ECSTASY RESEARCH: December 2, 2003. Research on Ecstasy Is Clouded by Errors - The New York Times, by Donald G. McNeil Jr.
November 28, 2003. The politics of rEsearch by Harry Shapiro,
is published in the Nov/Dec issue of the British magazine, Druglink. This article reports that Ricaurte's mislabeling error "came to light when a student attempted to replicate the study and then made an official complaint when permission to publish the new findings was denied." In order to verify if this was accurate, Rick Doblin called the Johns Hopkins press office and was informed that Dr. Ricaurte says that there is no substance whatsoever to this allegation. November 26, 2003. MAPS sent a letter today to NIDA Director Nora Volkow, Ph.D., responding to a November 18, 2003 letter from Dr. Volkow to Rick Doblin. This exchange of letters was part of a package of material that MAPS sent today to members of NIDA's National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (NACDA) requesting that NACDA recommend to NIDA that it release information about the MDMA research of Dr. Ricaurte. Dr. Volkow indicated in her thoughtful but careful letter that she didn't think it was necessary for NIDA to proactively release the information about the MDMA research of Dr. Ricaurte that MAPS requested and noted that MAPS will obtain some information as a result of its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In reply, Rick Doblin noted that, " NIDA should be forthcoming with the information requested. To do otherwise leaves the impression that NIDA is not actively and aggressively trying to clear up this disturbing episode that has damaged the credibility of NIDA's educational efforts regarding the risks of MDMA and other illegal drugs."
November 21, 2003.
Editorial published in Movement Disorders by Stephen Kish, Ph.D., [PDF format]
"What is the Evidence that Ecstasy (MDMA) Can Cause Parkinson's Disease?"
This strong editorial examines the evidence that ecstasy can cause Parkinson's and
suggests that the evidence is very weak. It also critiques the flawed
McCann/Ricaurte PET evidence that MDMA causes substantial reductions in serotonin transporter. November 18, 2003. Letter from Dr. Volkow to Rick Doblin. November 10, 2003. RTI denies it made mistake that torpedoed results of a $1.3M study. Triangle Business Journal, by Leo John. October 20, 2003. MAPS sends a letter to all members of the National Institute on Drug Abuse's National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse, requesting that it recommend that NIDA release all the information about Dr. Ricaurte's research that MAPS has requested in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. (also in Word format)
October 18, 2003.
When to retract? October 14, 2003. Concern over research reawakens ecstasy neurotoxicity debate, Kelly Morris, Lancet: Neurology Vol 2, November 2003 (also in pdf)
October 9, 2003.
Nature publishes a short news story (PDF and HTML) on the MAPS sponsored MDMA/PTSD study. Nature 425, 552 (09 October 2003) October 8, 2003. Could MDMA help people with Parkinson's disease ? A recently published study in marmosets suggests that MDMA can reduce side effects of some medications used in the treatment of PD.
October 2, 2003.
MAPS Responds to Ricaurte et al.'s retraction letter. October 1, 2003. MAPS Submits FOIA Request to NIDA. MAPS receives a confirmation letter from NIDA's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) staff that it has received our request for specific information about the studies that Drs. Ricaurte et al. conducted with genuine MDMA that failed to find dopaminergic neurotoxicity, and about the studies that were conducted with the mislabeled bottles of MDMA and methamphetamine. The letter seems to indicate that there is a good chance that NIDA will release most or all of the information we requested, but that remains to be seen. September 30, 2003. False Drug Information Harms Kids Marsha Rosenbaum, Research Scientist, Seattle Post Intelligencer, Op-Ed September 26, 2003. Independent Inquiry Demanded Into Ecstasy Study Debacle, Drug Policy Alliance News September 23, 2003. MAPS obtains approval for its MDMA/PTSD study from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviewing the protocol. September 19, 2003. Ecstasy scandal grows as second study retracted DRC-Net Drug War Chronicle September 18, 2003. Independent inquiry demanded into Ecstasy affair - Robert Walgate, The Scientist
September 17, 2003. Additional drug research affected by drug mix-up - Robert Walgate, The Scientist September 16, 2003. Retracted Ecstasy paper an "outrageous scandal" - Robert Walgate, The Scientist
September 15, 2003. It'll kill you -- wait, no it won't - Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle September 13, 2003. Ecstasy study is erroneous - El Mundo (pdf format)
September 12, 2003.
"Scientists retract second drug study; Mislabeled vial used again in new Ecstasy research at Johns Hopkins lab" - Jonathan Bor, Baltimore Sun
September 11, 2003. "Agony for researchers as mix-up forces retraction of ecstasy study" - Jonathan Knight, Nature (also in PDF format)
September 9, 2003.
"Researchers Retract Study on Ecstasy Brain Damage" - NPR's "All Things Considered"
September 8, 2003. "'Killer' Ecstasy claim was false" - BBC News Online
September 7, 2003. DrugSense FOCUS Alert: Bad Science Drives Drug War Hysteria
September 6, 2003. "Results Retracted On Ecstasy Study" - Rick Weiss, Washington Post
(* - these articles were written without any input from MAPS) Here is a comprehensive list of newspapers that have covered the Ricaurte retraction story August 1, 2003. MAPS replies to Dr. Ricaurte and Science, arguing once again that a correction needed to be made to Dr. Ricaurte's letter of June 6, 2003. July 31, 2003. The letters editor at Science forwards a feeble reply from Dr. Ricaurte to our questions about misleading statements in his June 6, 2003, letter to Science. June 19, 2003. Drs. Mithoefer, Jerome and Doblin have written a reply to the Ricaurte et al. letter (PDF format) published in Science on June 6, 2003. We have submitted our reply to Drs. Ricaurte and McCann and indicated that we would be happy to post their response to the MAPS website if they want to continue this debate. June 6, 2003. Science, Vol. 300, p. 1503-4. Mithoefer, Jerome, Doblin letter and response by Ricaurte, Yuan, Hatzidimitrioli, Cord, McCann.
COMMENT: The letter from Ricaurte et al. understates by 100% the mortality rate of their primates administered their sequential dosing regimen of MDMA as reported in their paper. One out of 10 are reported to have died in the letter but 2 out of 10 were reported to have died in the paper. While Ricaurte et al. are among the main proponents of the argument that even one dose of MDMA carries substantial risks and that MDMA use can significantly impair memory, it seems that they are showing symptoms of this deficit in that they seem to have forgotten that just 8 1/2 months ago, they clearly reported in their paper that two animals died. Fortunately, we did not forget. Media Reports September 30, 2002. "On Ecstasy, Consensus Is Elusive" — Rick Weiss, Washington Post September 27, 2002. "Study in Primates Shows Brain Damage From Doses of Ecstasy" — Donald G. McNeil, Jr., New York Times September 26, 2002. "Ecstasy users 'risk Parkinson's disease'" — David Concar, New Scientist September 26, 2002. "Study: Ecstasy Doses Can Hurt Brain" — Paul Recer, Associated Press September 26, 2002. MAPS Press Release — "Scientists Sharply Criticize Conclusions of New MDMA (Ecstasy) Report" |
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