The short piece, published April 18, 2026, reported the case of an 87-year-old man with lung damage after being exposed to a forest fire. The report included a startling image of black “casts” taken from the man’s airways, the size of which can be gauged by a tape measure at the top of the picture.

The dramatic visual drew attention in the media. But the authors, Yuling Wang and Xiangdong Mu, of Daxing Teaching Hospital and Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, respectively, acknowledged having used AI to superimpose the tape ruler in the figure. “The patient was critically ill and in emergency treatment when the clinical image was taken,” Mu told by email. “The ruler was placed crookedly in a hurry. We only slightly adjusted the angle and position of the ruler to make the image neater and more readable, without changing any clinical information in the picture.” The article was retracted on April 29, 2026.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2026/05/01/nejm-retracts-case-study-for-ai-manipulated-imagery/

Another high-profile case has interested scientists. Read now