Suppressing the Medical Press
Lapius
was busy underlining passages in the journal that lay open on his desk. “Something must grab you, Simon. I haven’t seen that since I was a medical
student.”
He
chuckled. “Chalk one up for the British
Medical Journal. A landmark case, and
possibly a warning of things to come.”
“Why
what’s going on across the briny?”
“An
attempt at suppression of the fourth estate, the medical fourth estate no
less. You know the papers of late have
been full of the remarks by Whitehead, of the Nixon administration, and Agnew
before him which many have interpreted as attacks on the news media. But my knowledge there has never been an
attack on the freedom of the medical press.
Yet, one such occurred in England.”
“You
mean someone has threatened the freedom of the British Medical Journal to
publish what is sees fit?”
“Precisely,
Harry.”
“What
do they publish that’s so threatening?
Some scientific articles, a few case reports? What happened, did they latch on to a new Andromeda strain? Did they unwittingly expose the militaristic
implications of the London Flu? Is
Scotland Yard breathing down their necks?”
“Nothing
so flamboyant, my boy, but serious nonetheless.”
“I
can see someone trying to liven the old girl up a bit. A few cartoons from Punch, or perhaps a few
columns from the Village Voice, but who would want to suppress it?”
“S.L.
Drummond-Jackson, for one, Harry. It
seems that he is a practicing dentist who advocated the use of a new anesthetic
procedure for dental surgery. The
subject was examined by scientists who published their results in the British
Medical Journal, and who concluded that the anesthesia had side effects which
may well have been the cause of a number of deaths. I guess old Drummond-Jackson felt that this sort of publicity
would be detrimental to his practice, so he sued the authors of the article as
well as the British Medical Association.
He demanded that the British Medical Journal publicly renounce its
position and undertake ‘not to publish any similar statements in the future’.”
“They
must have said some nasty things about Drummond-Jackson in print.”
“That’s
the strange part of it. It was a
completely objective article evaluating the worth of the anesthetic on the
basis of the facts at hand.”
“Then
it wouldn’t seem S.L. Drummond-Jackson had much of a case.”
“Of
course not, Harry. But you don’t need a
case to go to court. Taking
someone
to court is like a game of chicken, a bullying tactic. If the defendant backs down and settles out
of court it’s been worth the effort.
That’s the basis of many malpractice cases. The threat is enough to force a favorable settlement. But the British Medical Journal is made of
sterner stuff, and fought the case out in court. It was a long, drawn out affair, and even with all their
resources, S.L. Drummond-Jackson fought them to a standstill. The case was so costly that at one point one
party or the other insured the life of the presiding judge in case his death caused
a mistrial.”
“Well,
I see the British Medical Journal is still sailing under its old masthead, so
they probably made out okay.”
“Barely. On October 31, 1972, the adversaries decided
to discontinue the action, and made the following statements: ‘The Defendants
all recognize and acknowledge that the plaintiff is a man of the highest
integrity and skill and of outstanding ability as a dentist.’
“Note
Harry, they say nothing about him as an anesthetist. Then the Plaintiff made a statement: ‘The Plaintiff for his part
withdraws any allegation against the defendants or any of them of dishonesty or
impropriety. Further, he recognizes and
acknowledges that the British Medical Journal has the right and duty to its
readers and to the medical profession generally to publish articles such as
that submitted to them by the individual defendants, and to comment on them.’
“Clearly
a victory for freedom of the medical press and for the British Medical Journal
in particular.”
“Yes,
Harry, they must have made some strong points to squeeze that statement of
Drummond-Jackson, but it seems dangerous precedent. Hopefully, if any other such cases arise the respective medical
journals will show the same gumption as the British Medical Journal. Otherwise we’ll be reading what the
Drummond-Jacksons and the advertisers would have us read, rather that the free
selection of scientific articles chosen on their merit.”
“Incidentally,
Harry, how are you coming with that paper you are writing?”
“Just
fine, Simon. Incidentally, would you do
me a favor?”
“What
is it my boy?”
“I
intend submitting it to the Archives.
You have some drag with the editor.
Would you write him a letter on my behalf?”
I
didn’t realize how strong Lapius was.
He had me by the scruff of the neck and was hustling me to the
door. “I don’t know whether to throttle
you or leave you out with the cats,” he growled.