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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2001

In a letter published in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, a doctor admits a story he wrote about the suicide of an Alaska Native elder was faked.

As a medical student, Shetal Shah spent five weeks among Alaska Natives in the Arctic. According to him, he was told various stories about Yup'ik elders voluntarily committing suicide.

The stories led Shah to write a fictionalized account of a toothless, 97-year-old elder who walked out onto the Arctic Ocean "never to return." The JAMA published the account last year, believing it to be real.

Shah's supervisor at the time says the story perpetuates a false myth about Inuit culture.

Get the Letter:
A Story About Suicide in the Arctic (Michael D. Swenson; Shetal I. Shah)

Get the Original Account:
Five Miles From Tomorrow (Shah S. JAMA. 2000;284:1897-1898)

Get the Story:
Med student made up tale of elder's death (AP 8/22)