c. In the circumstances set out at paragraph 31.b. above, and asone of the senior authors of the Lancet paper, you,
i. knew or ought to have known the importance of accurately and honestly describing the patient population,
Admitted and found proved
ii. had a duty to ensure that the factual information in the paper and provided by you in response to queries about it wastrue and accurate,
Found proved
In reaching its decision, the Panel has taken into account the guidance from the Lancet, published in October 1997,which states “he or she [authors of the paper] must share responsibility for what is published.” The Panel is satisfied that, as one of the senior authors of the Lancet paper, you had a duty to ensure that the factual information contained in the paper was true and accurate. In his evidence, Professor Rutter also referred to the importance of accuracy in scientific papers. In evidence, you accepted that when providing information in response to queries about the contents of the paper you had a duty to ensure that such information was true and accurate.
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