Canadian Medical Association Journal fires 2 editors
Last Updated Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:02:06 EST
CBC News
http://tinyurl.com/qz9xb
The editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal has been
fired, along with his senior deputy editor, CBC News has learned.
Dr. John Hoey and his deputy, Anne-Marie Todkill, were pushed out over
questions of editorial freedom, sources say.
There are also suggestions the journal's publisher, CMA Media Inc. - a
subsidiary of the Canadian Medical Association - was unhappy with Hoey's
editorial stance on private health care.
The first public controversy between Hoey and the journal's owner resulted
from an investigative news story on ease of access to the "morning-after"
pill from pharmacists, part of which was quashed by the publisher.
From April 20, 2005: Morning-after pill switches to non-prescription in Canada
http://tinyurl.com/bldf4
From CBC Saskatchewan: Privacy concerns raised about morning-after pill rules
http://tinyurl.com/q7aun
Hoey responded to changes to the story by writing an editorial condemning
the medical association's interference with editorial autonomy. He also
struck a panel to look at the issue.
PRIVATE HEALTH CARE
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, the head of the panel, said the immediate cause of
Hoey's firing may be a story published online earlier in February headlined
"Two-tier Tony Clement appointed new minister of health."
From FEB. 9, 2001: New Health Minister dubbed 'Two-tier Tony'
http://tinyurl.com/raqhg
The article suggested Clement, the new federal health minister, would be
friendly to private health care.
"There's no question that private health care could be a boon for Canadian
physicians and that the CMA probably would want to support privatization,"
said Kassirer, who is also a professor at Tufts University School of
Medicine in Boston and a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine.
"Any argument against that by critics is likely to be seen as
counter-productive to the goals of the CMA."
The Clement story never made it into the printed journal and has since been
pulled from the CMAJ website.
When Clement was Ontario's health minister in 2001, he gave a speech to the
Empire Club supporting more choice in getting health care. CMA's media
publisher, Graham Morris, denies concerns over specific stories or that
Hoey's approach led to the firing.
"Nothing specifically about his approach, but we feel there are some changes
in emphasis that we would like to make in the journal," said Morris. "We
felt this is the time to make the change."
Morris wouldn't elaborate on what changes he wants. He said he stands behind
the principle of editorial independence.
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