Faculty Bibliography

In criticizing [Charles D. Bluestone]'s study, [Erdem I. Cantekin] said it relied too heavily on techniques that were prone to bias in examining an ear. Cantekin concluded that amoxacillin did not work for middle-ear infections. In 1986, both groups submitted separate reports to The New England Journal of Medicine. Cantekin told the journal's editor, Dr. Arnold S. Relman, that his manuscript was a re-analysis and re-interpretation of the paper that Bluestone had submitted a month earlier. Relman was wrong in retrospect, Dr. Drummond Rennie, a deputy editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association wrote, because he could have sent both Bluestone's and Cantekin's papers out for review. If both were deemed worthy of publication, they could have been published with an editorial outlining the dispute from the start

In criticizing Dr. [Charles D. Bluestone]'s study, Dr. [Erdem I. Cantekin] said it relied too heavily on techniques that were prone to bias in examining an ear. Dr. Cantekin concluded that amoxacillin did not work for middle-ear infections. Dr. Cantekin refused to give up, and he paid a heavy price for becoming a whistle-blower. A few weeks after submitting his dissenting paper in 1986, Dr. Cantekin saw his career come to an abrupt halt. A decade after Dr. Bluestone recruited him to work with him in Pittsburgh, Dr. Cantekin was dismissed as research director of the university's center for studies of middle-ear infections. Dr. Charles D. Bluestone, left, led 1987 study that concluded amoxacillin was effective for middle-ear infections. A team led by Dr. Erdem I. Cantekin disputed the conclusion, using material from the same study. (Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) (Dr. Bluestone); Pittsburgh Press (Dr. Cantekin); Dr. [Drummond Rennie], deputy editor of Journal of American Medical Association, said publishing only the Bluestone paper was wrong. (Steve Kagan for The New York Times)