The Federal Public Prosecutor in Washington contacted New England Medicine Magazine, which is the most famous medical magazine in the world, with questions suggested without evidence that he was biased against some opinions and is affected by external pressure.
Dr. Eric Robin, the editor -in -chief of Najm, described the letter as a “mysterious threat” in an interview with the New York Times.
At least three other magazines received similar messages from Edward Martin Junior, a Republican activist who works as an American temporary lawyer in Washington. Mr. Martin was He criticized the use of his office To target administration opponents.
His letters accused the publications of being “prominent in various scientific discussions” and raising a series of questions about bias and choosing research articles.
Do they accept presentations from scientists with “competing views”? What do they do if the authors who published their work “may have misled their readers”? Are they transparent about the influence of “supporters, financiers, advertisers and others”?
The news of the message was to a star I mentioned Earlier by Stat, the health news port.
Mr. Martin also asked about the role of the National Institutes of Health, which funds some of the research published by the magazines, and the role of the agency “in developing the articles presented”.
Amanda Shanur, the first amendment expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said that the information published in the reputable medical magazines such as NEJM is widely protected by the constitution.
She added that the magazines have the same strong rights that apply to newspapers – and added that the strongest constitution.
She said: “There is no basis for saying that anything other than protecting the first most stringent amendment applies to medical magazines.” “It seems that it aims to create a kind of fear and cold that will have effects on people’s expression – this is a constitutional concern.”
It is not clear that the number of magazines received these messages or criteria used by Mr. Martin to determine the leaflets targeted. The US Prosecutor’s Office in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
“Dr. Robin said: This is what we do and I think we are doing well. It seems that the questions indicate that there is some bias in what we do – this is the mysterious place The threat part comes“
Jeremy Berg, the former editor -in -chief of the Science Magazine, said he believed that the messages were designed to “intimidate the magazines to bend” to spread the papers that are in line with the administration’s beliefs – on climate change and vaccines, for example – even if the research quality is poor.
Robert F. Kennedy Junior, Minister of Health in the country, regarding NEJM in An interview with the “Dr. Hyman Show” last year An example of a medical magazine participated in “lying to the audience” and “retreating from real knowledge”.
Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Humanitarian Services, refused to comment on whether Mr. Kennedy had any post with messages.
In the interview, Mr. Kennedy said he would seek to sue medical magazines under Federal Anti -Corruption Laws.
“I will lit up against you under the laws of extortion, according to the laws of general damage,” he said. “I will find a way to prosecute you unless you reach a plan now to show how you will start spreading real science.”
Dr. Jay Bhatershara, the new director of NIH I strongly criticized the leadership of scientific journals. Recently, he Participated in the establishment of a new magazine As an alternative to traditional scientific publishing. It was published contradictory views on Covid.
Other prominent magazines said they did not receive the message. On Friday, Lancet, which is based in Britain, was published The opening of cruelty In solidarity, he described the messages as “a clear trick to strike fear in magazines and affects its right to the supervision of independent liberation.”
The editorial said: “The flag and medicine in the United States are violently cut while watching the world.”
One of Mr. Martin’s messages was sent to the magazine ReleaseA highly prominent publication publishes very technical studies on topics such as lung cancer and pneumonia. the The New York Times reported last week At least other publishers have received almost similar formulation messages.
They refused to speak publicly for fear of revenge on the Trump administration.
Dr. Robin said he was also concerned about the political reaction. Scientific magazines depend on public funds in several indirect methods – for example, universities often use federal scholarships to pay for subscriptions.
“Are we worried? Of course we are,” he said. “But we want to do the right thing.”
Mr. Martin gave magazines until May 2 to answer his questions. A star has already responded to Mr. Martin with a statement back against his description of the magazine.
“We use the view of the peers and editing operations to ensure the objectivity and reliability of the research that we publish,” as stated in the statement. “We support the editorial independence of medical magazines and the first amendment rights to freedom of expression.”
This is not the first brush of Nomat with the Trump administration.
In 2020, the magazine Editorial The condemnation of the president’s response to the epidemic-the first time that the magazine has been supported or condemned a political candidate in its history 208.
Dr. Robin said he doubts that Mr. Martin’s message was linked to the editorial. He pointed out that the Journal Chest was not written for the first period of Trump until he received a letter.
