U.S. Dept of Justice targets Chest Journal
US government's "war on woke" comes to critical care publishing
Edward R. Martin Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, sent an intimidating list of questions to the editor of Chest and at least two other medical journals, accusing them of bias and pointedly asking if they planned to change their ways.
An image of what was said to be the letter was posted on X by psychiatrist Eric Reinhardt, and the story was first reported by Kristina Fiore and Joyce Frieden on MedPage Today:
The U.S. prosecutor states the letter was sent in response to an unspecified “request for information and clarification” the DOJ had received, and goes on to assert that
“[M]ore and more journals and publications like CHEST Journal are conceding that they are partisans in various scientific debates - that is, that they have a position for which they are advocating either due to advertisement (under postal code) or sponsorship (under relevant fraud regulations). The public has certain expectations and you have certain responsibilities.”
It then asked for information on how the journal protects the public from “misinformation,” ensures nondiscrimination against “competing viewpoints,” and provides transparency into the influence of sponsors, advertisers, and the NIH on its editorial decisions.
In considering acceptance of papers with competing viewpoints, the letter asked, “Are there new norms being developed and offered?”
The American College of Chest Physicians, which publishes Chest, told the media the letter “was posted online without our knowledge” and issued a statement supporting the journal:
“As the publisher, the American College of Chest Physicians respects and supports the journal's editorial independence.”
The DOJ’s jurisdiction (and implicit threat of legal action) over the private speech of a medical publisher is unclear, but based on the letter's text, it seems to be asserted under postal code or fraud statutes.
The two other journals that acknowledged receipt of the letter declined to be named publicly, according to MedPage Today’s reporting. The New England Journal of Medicine, which denounced in print President Trump’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and formally endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 election, denied to Forbes having received such a letter.
"A publication's editorial decisions are none of the government's business, whether it's a newspaper or a medical journal," JT Morris, a senior attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told MedPage Today. "When a U.S. Attorney wields the power of his office to target medical journals because of their content and editorial processes … [h]e's abusing his authority to try to chill protected speech."
Since, obviously, the "stable genius" and his minions have such vast capabilities in judging scientific enquiry. This is the equivalent of a kindergartner questioning the qualifications of a college professor.
I would say that the distrust came overwhelmingly from the spreaders of misinformation, including our current head of HHS. I am really beyond sick of listening to those like Vinay Prasad claiming incessantly that the medical community is responsible for this loss of trust. Misinformation spreads like wildfire, and rhis has always been the case. But now this effect has been greatly amplified in the era of social media and podcast hosts such as Rogan/Weinstein. Vinay had a lot more time on his hands than those of us on the front lines because he works in an unrelated specialty and nowhere near NYC. Thats easy for him to go on podcasts and make is his ignorant observations and to demonize those like Dr Fauci who devoted half a century to the service of combating infectious disease.
The fact that this had to be “leaked” by Chest is alarming and indicates they are not taking this anywhere near as seriously as they should. This should be a four alarm fire for the medical profession. We have TO SPEAK UP!