Journal Faults a Medical Group in a Dispute Over Independence

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/19/business/media/19journal.html?pagewanted=print

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December 19, 2005

Journal Faults a Medical Group in a Dispute Over

Independence

By IAN AUSTEN

The Canadian Medical Association Journal gives readers

a mixture of scientific research papers and

journalism. Now a dispute about the boundary between

the two has led to charges of censorship and the

creation of a committee to review the journal's

independence.

This month, the journal's editor in chief, Hoey,

asked two of his reporters to follow up on a recent

regulatory decision that made Plan B, a morning-after

contraceptive pill, available without a prescription

in Canada. They, in turn, sent 13 women to buy the

pills at pharmacies in each of Canada's provinces and

territories.

Dr. Hoey said he expected that some of the women would

find that purchasing the pill was not easy. But he was

surprised to learn that all of them were asked for

detailed personal information, in some cases including

sexual history, which was entered into computers.

" We thought these privacy issues were important to the

story, " Dr. Hoey said.

The reporters found that the information was being

collected because the Canadian Pharmacists Association

had asked pharmacists to do so.

On Dec. 9, after his reporters interviewed officials

at the pharmacists' association, Dr. Hoey received a

telephone call from Graham , the Canadian

Medical Association's executive in charge of

publications. While the association had no advance

notice of the journal's contents, Dr. Hoey said it was

made clear to him that the pharmacists had complained

to the medical association.

" He said, we're not going to let you publish that

story. It's shoddy journalism and what business is it

of ours to be criticizing the pharmacists, " Dr. Hoey

recalled, adding that it was the first time in his 10

years as editor that he had been ordered to cancel or

change a story.

The pharmacists contended that because the journal was

a scientific publication it should have conducted its

informal survey of pharmacies accordingly, using both

ethical and peer review committees.

" We said this was not appropriate for a research

journal, " said Louise Crandall, a spokeswoman for the

pharmacists' group. The medical association said that

it was unable to make anyone available for comment.

Dr. Hoey's position, however, is that the informal

survey was journalism, not research, and that the

pharmacists' argument was " just a way to force us to

pull the story. "

After initially considering resigning on the grounds

of editorial interference, Dr. Hoey said, he took

three steps. An article appeared about the information

collection but without mentioning the experiences of

the 13 women.

Then on its Web site, the journal published an

editorial describing the attempt to cancel the story

and criticizing the medical association for

interfering with its editorial independence.

And Dr. Hoey has asked an outside panel, headed by

Jerome P. Kassirer, the former editor of The New

England Journal of Medicine, to produce guidelines to

help define the Canadian journal's future

independence.

But even the truncated article had an effect. After

its publication, Ann Cavoukian, the privacy

commissioner for the province of Ontario, notified

pharmacists' groups and pointed out that the

information collection violated privacy laws. A notice

went out to pharmacists on Thursday revoking the

group's earlier request that they interview buyers of

Plan B.

Since then, Ms. Cavoukian said, she has heard from

women who said that they had found the drug store

questioning emotionally distressing.

" It's a shame the C.M.A. choose to censor the content

of that article, " she said. " Had it been reported,

people would have had a sense what women were

experiencing. "