Politics and Independence — The Collapse of the Canadian

[CHIMO]

The NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL of MEDICINE

Politics and Independence — The Collapse of the Canadian
Medical Association Journal
Miriam Shuchman, M.D., and Donald A. Redelmeier, M.D.
On February 20, 2006, when John Hoey, editorin-
chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal
(CMAJ), returned to the Ottawa headquarters of the
Canadian Medical Association (CMA) after a vacation,

Tholl then became alarmed by
another article, an unflattering
profile of Canada’s new minister
of health, Tony Clement, that was
published on the journal Web site
two weeks before the CMA board
was to meet with Clement. Tholl
and Paul-Émile Cloutier, the CMA’s
communications director, went
to the CMAJ offices, and Tholl
spoke — loudly, witnesses report
— to Todkill, the senior deputy
editor, allegedly making a disparaging
remark to her as he left.
Todkill reportedly complained to
CMA executives about the incident,
but the CMA will not comment.
Morris ordered Todkill to pull the
story off the Web, and a reporter
added some positive remarks from
the CMA president about the
health minister before reposting
it. The editors asked Erlick to call
an emergency meeting of the oversight
committee, but he declined.
They contacted members of the
Kassirer committee, who added
the incident to their report.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/NEJMp068056v2.pdf

Quite a bit more in the article. It is a pdf format, three pages in length.

[Swede]

1. Three-quarters of medical journal board quit in dispute

The CMAJ was enjoying such success lately too.


Fourteen members of the Canadian Medical Association Journal's 19-member board quit, the latest move in a continuing battle with the journal's owner, the Canadian Medical Association, over editorial independence.

The 14 joined Jerome Kassirer, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, who resigned from the board this week. Steve Shumak, a part-time editor at the journal, also quit yesterday.




http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060317.CMAJ17/TPStory/National