Kassirer to leave New England Journal of Medicine
Date: July 26, 1999
Time: 2:44 pm
"Honest differences of opinion" between Dr. Jerome Kassirer, editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, and the journal's owner and publisher, the Massachusetts Medical Society, have led to the end of Kassirer's tenure as NEJM editor-in-chief.
Kassirer, who had been at the NEJM helm for the last eight years, will begin a 7-month sabbatical Sept. 1; he does not leave the journal officially until next March.
"I am honoured to have served as editor-in-chief [here] and I was privileged to work with editors and staff who have never deviated from their singular focus on quality," Kassirer said in a statement issued by the medical society.
Neither Dr. Jack Evjy, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, nor Kassirer offered an explanation as to exactly what the differences of opinion entailed, but a society press release said they involved "administrative and publishing issues."
In the society's statement, Evjy praised Kassirer's work, particularly his efforts to redesign the journal.
"Dr. Kassirer's editorials have been among the most influential articles in American medical publishing," said Evjy. "In addition, Dr. Kassirer introduced many new features in the journal, completely redesigned it, shortened the turnaround time for manuscripts and rapidly brought critical medical developments to the attention of practising doctors."
Kassirer is the second editor to leave a major American medical journal abruptly within the past 7 months. In January, Dr. George Lundberg was fired by the Journal of the American Medical Association because of differences with AMA managers.
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