A review by Brian Peskin entitled Why Fish Oil Fails: A Comprehensive 21st Century Lipids-Based Physiologic Analysis has been retracted by the Journal of Lipids after a reader flagged up concerns about the author’s credibility.
Peskin, who has no medical qualifications, wrote: “The promise of fish oil and its so-called active ingredients EPA/DHA fails time and time again in clinical trials. This lipids-based physiologic review will explain precisely why there should have never been expectation for success.”
In the retraction notice, the journal states that the article was retracted “as a result of an undeclared competing interest on the part of the manuscript’s author”.
Paul Peters chief strategic officer of Hindawi, which owns the journal, told the blog Retraction Watch: “In particular, it was found that the author, Brian Peskin, holds a number of patents and is a director of at least one company related to essential fatty acids [Peskin Pharmaceuticals]. Given that essential fatty acids are discussed at length within the retracted article, it was determined that this undeclared conflict of interest was serious enough to warrant retraction.”
