I thought that some on this listserve might be interested in this. It's
the JAMA editorial for next week that has been released early on the AMA
webpage (www.ama-assn.org).
For any who are not interested, as was mentioned yesterday by the
listserve's sponsors, I will attempt to answer any questions "off-line"
from the website if you contact me at [log in to unmask]
Andrew Thomas
AMA Board of Trustees
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Editorials represent the opinions of the authors and THE JOURNAL
and not those of the American Medical Association.
Editorial - February 3, 1999
JAMA and Editorial Independence
On January 15, 1999, George D. Lundberg, MD, was
dismissed as Editor
of JAMA and Editor-in-Chief of AMA's Scientific
Information and
Multimedia. In a written statement, AMA Executive Vice
President E.
Ratcliffe Anderson, Jr, MD, said that Dr Lundberg
"threatened the historic
tradition and integrity of the Journal of the American
Medical Association
by inappropriately and inexcusably interjecting JAMA
into a major political
debate that has nothing to do with science or
medicine."[1]
The article in question[2] surveyed college students
regarding their
perceptions of whether certain sexual practices
constituted having "had sex."
The study was conducted by leading researchers, was
not solicited by
JAMA, and underwent peer review and editorial
scrutiny.
The dismissal of Dr Lundberg has prompted widespread
concern within the
medical and scientific publishing communities.
Innumerable commentators
worldwide have interpreted Dr Lundberg's dismissal as
a serious challenge
to JAMA's editorial freedom and a direct threat to THE
JOURNAL's historic
tradition and integrity.
During his 17-year tenure, Dr Lundberg demanded and
maintained THE
JOURNAL's editorial independence,[3] a position
affirmed several times by
AMA's Board of Trustees and policy-making House of
Delegates.[4,5]
Under his editorship, JAMA has become a world-class
scientific publication.
Dr Lundberg has been an international leader in the
development of a
scientifically and ethically sound peer-review
process. He has also bridged
the gap between clinical researchers and health
services researchers by
focusing on issues of public policy that directly or
indirectly touch the health
care and health of the American people. His efforts
developed a respected,
successful medical journal and family of Archives
journals that publish
important, high-quality articles that advance medical
science, improve patient
care, protect public health, and inform health policy.
While we acknowledge Dr Anderson's administrative
authority to act as he
did, we, the Editors of JAMA and AMA Archives journals
and members of
the JAMA Editorial Board, strongly disagree with the
decision to summarily
dismiss Dr Lundberg.
Editorial independence is the lifeblood of THE
JOURNAL. The editorial
independence that JAMA has enjoyed has been the
essential foundation on
which the publication built its current prestige and,
in the process, lent so
much prestige to the AMA in the biomedical and
health-services research
community. For the world-class status of JAMA to
continue, its editorial
independence must be preserved by the AMA, even if
some of the AMA's
leadership or its members may disagree about the
scientific merit or
propriety of particular articles, as inevitably they
will, from time to time. Dr
Anderson stated that "JAMA's hard-earned reputation is
based on its
editorial independence and integrity, and we intend to
keep it that way."[1]
We wholeheartedly agree and endorse this pledge.
We, the undersigned, reaffirm and recommit ourselves
to upholding the
values, goals, and objectives of THE JOURNAL (Table).
We hope that all
who value what Dr Lundberg, many of us, and so many
others have built will
stand by THE JOURNAL and support its foundation of
editorial independence
as key to its mission of promoting the science and art
of medicine and the
betterment of the public health.
The Key and Critical Objectives of JAMA4,5
Key Objective: To promote the science and art of
medicine and the
betterment of the public health
Critical Objectives:
1. To publish original, important, well-documented,
peer-reviewed
clinical and laboratory articles on a diverse range
of medical topics
2. To provide physicians with continuing education
in basic and clinical
science to support informed clinical decisions
3. To enable physicians to remain informed in
multiple areas of
medicine, including developments in fields other
than their own
4. To improve public health internationally by
elevating the quality of
medical care, disease prevention, and research
provided by an informed
readership
5. To foster responsible and balanced debate on
controversial issues
that affect medicine and health care
6. To forecast important issues and trends in
medicine and health care
7. To inform readers about nonclinical aspects of
medicine and public
health, including the political, philosophic,
ethical, legal, environmental,
economic, historical, and cultural
8. To recognize that, in addition to these specific
objectives, THE
JOURNAL has a social responsibility to improve the
total human
condition and to promote the integrity of science
9. To report American Medical Association policy, as
appropriate,
while maintaining editorial independence,
objectivity, and responsibility
10. To achieve the highest level of ethical medical
journalism and to
produce a publication that is timely, credible, and
enjoyable to read
JAMA Editors: Richard M. Glass, MD; Phil B.
Fontanarosa, MD;
Drummond Rennie, MD; Margaret A. Winker, MD; M.
Therese Southgate,
MD; Charles B. Clayman, MD; Helene M. Cole, MD; Thomas
B. Cole,
MD, MPH; David S. Cooper, MD; David H. Mark, MD, MPH;
Harriet S.
Meyer, MD; Carin M. Olson, MD; Ronna Henry Siegel, MD;
Jeanette M.
Smith, MD; Jody W. Zylke, MD; Robert A. Clark, MD;
Deborah J. Cook,
MD; Naomi Vaisrub, PhD; Annette Flanagin; Charlene
Breedlove; Roxanne
K. Young; Thomas C. Jefferson, MD; William M. Silberg;
Marsha
Goldsmith; Cheryl Iverson; Elaine Williams.
AMA Archives Journals Editors: Daniel M. Albert, MD;
Kenneth A.
Arndt, MD; Jack D. Barchas, MD; Marjorie A. Bowman,
MD, MPA;
James E. Dalen, MD; Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD;
Michael E. Johns, MD;
Wayne F. Larrabee, Jr, MD; Claude H. Organ, Jr, MD;
Roger N.
Rosenberg, MD.
JAMA Editorial Board Members: H. David Banta, MD;
Michael Berger,
MD; Robert J. Blendon, ScD; Iain Chalmers, MBBS, MSc;
Lois DeBakey,
PhD; Ronald G. Evens, MD; Colin I. Johnston, MB,BS;
Donald A. B.
Lindberg, MD; Herve Maisonneuve, MD; C. David Naylor,
MD, DPhil;
Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD; Reed E. Pyeritz, MD, PhD;
Uwe E. Reinhardt,
PhD; Povl Riis, MD, DSCI, DHC; William L. Roper, MD,
MPH; Masaaki
Terada, MD.
Author Affiliations: See JAMA Masthead
References
1. Anderson ER. American Medical Association
statement; Jan 15, 1999;
Chicago, Ill.
2. Sanders SA, Reinisch JM. Would you say you had sex
if ...? JAMA.
1999;281:275-277.
3. Lundberg GD. Editorial freedom and integrity. JAMA.
1988;281:2563.
4. American Medical Association. JAMA editorial
freedom. Board Report
Resolution 904, I-92 adopted by the House of
Delegates; June 1993.
5. Lundberg GD. House of Delegates reaffirms JAMA's
editorial
independence. JAMA. 1993;270:1248-1249.
(JAMA. 1999;281:460)
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