Medical journals complain of 'harassment' from Justice Department
Multiple scientific publications have received letters from the Trump administration questioning their editorial practices and standards.
At least three medical journals have received letters from the U.S. Department of Justice that questioned their editorial practices and standards, prompting several journals to push back and assert their independence.
British medical journal The Lancet, which did not receive one of the letters, published an editorial describing the inquiries as “harassment” and intimidation, adding that U.S. science was being “violently dismembered” by the Trump administration.
Last week, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, sent a letter to the CHEST Journal, a scientific journal for chest doctors, implying it was partisan and asking a series of questions about the steps it took to include competing viewpoints and protect the public from misinformation.
The letter drew ire from a First Amendment group and some scientists, who raised concerns that inquiries from law enforcement could chill academic freedom and speech. The letter prompted the journal to post a statement saying its publisher, the American College of Chest Physicians, “supports the journal’s editorial independence.”
This week, the New England Journal of Medicine told NBC News it had received a similar letter from the interim U.S. attorney.
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