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To the Editor: We are writing to request the retraction of our article in the March 26, 2003, issue of JAMA¹ due to the discovery of a data error. The article was based on a nested case-control study in which we examined the relation between antibody titers against Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). To protect confidentiality, only the investigators at the Department of Defense Serum Repository (DoDSR) had access to the link between serum aliquots provided for serological analyses and case-control status or other covariates. Laboratory results were therefore sent to the DoDSR, where they were linked with the covariates of interest, and sent back to the other study investigators as an electronic file stripped of unique identifiers. Although the personnel linking the data at the DoDSR are highly trained and experienced in handling the huge database comprising millions of records, we discovered that in . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH
alberto.ascherio@channing.harvard.edu

Mark Rubertone, MD
Department of Nutrition

Donna Spiegelman, ScD
Department of Epidemiology
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, Mass

Lynn Levin, PhD, MPH
Division of Preventive Medicine
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Silver Spring, Md

Kassandra Munger, MSc
Army Medical Surveillance Activity
US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
Washington, DC

Charles Peck, MD
US Army Physical Disability Agency
Washington, DC

Evelyne Lennette, PhD
Virolab Inc
Berkeley, Calif

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Correcting the Literature--Retraction and Republication
Fontanarosa and DeAngelis
JAMA 2005;293:2536-2536.
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