The NEJM's editor in chief Jeffrey Drazen says his editors are being “a lot more cynical” with authors and asking a lot more questions about the harmful side effects of drugs, “almost to the point of driving them nuts.”
And that’s it.
In the thick of a scandal involving his journal’s being “hoodwinked” into publishing a dubious study, in the midst of a financial boom in the medical research industry that has intensified competition to a mind-boggling degree, the editor has chosen to defer to the honor system. “I am not a person who wants to make more rules,” he says. “I just want people to behave.”
There's much more in a great piece in Boston Magazine.
Drazen, who was a renowned asthma researcher before taking the job as the Journal’s top editor in 2000, never strays far from the details of science. As we chatted, though, it was his bow tie that I kept thinking about. It bore the New England Journal of Medicine logo, a maroon seal showing a quill pen crossed with the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius, the god of medicine. “It’s a limited edition,” Drazen said, not really looking at me. I kept staring. This was no ordinary bow tie, not one of those clip-ons worn by gawky teenagers at their proms. A perfect ribbon, it seemed as inviolable as the fondant frosting on a wedding cake. “Did you do that yourself?” I asked. He said it was as simple as tying his shoes. Apparently moved to prove it, he tugged on the ends of the tie, unraveling it. Then, without looking down, he quickly remade the bow. This version, alas, was less immaculate than the original.
Hat tip: The Health Care Blog
1 comment:
Caution on this article. It is full of errors -- of fact, and of omission.
Specifically -- she tries to suggest on 2 occasions that his failure to look her in the eye is evidence of something flawed in his character. Anyone who meets him would know after 60 seconds that he has a fairly prominent lazy eye condition.
It is an ad hominem mugging of the worst kind -- as Limbaugh did with Michael J. Fox.
It's a low blow, and only one of many. Anyone who knows Drazen, either closely or casually, would not recognize the man from the vicious portrayal in the article.
You have to wonder what ax she was grinding here.
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