Dying a Slow Death

At what point do we stop calling supposed medical journals, actual medical journals? A friend of mine recently cancelled his subscription to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). For those of you unawares, the NEJM had been the premiere medical journal in the U.S. for at least fifty years, and my friend had been reading the NEJM regularly for many, many years. When I asked him, Why? … he responded, “too woke!” He further explained that wasn’t the medical studies, per se, but rather the editorials and the letters to the editor that the NEJM chose to publish, which he politely termed, “rubbish!”

I know three others who are retired from medical practice, but continue to work part time teaching at the local medical school. One of them summed it up succinctly when he said, “if you’re under forty, in ten years do not get sick! “Why?” I asked. … Because you will end up with this new breed of physician taking care of you, and unless something dramatically changes, they do not know much!”

Luckily, I am no longer under forty!

Finally the topper from Townhall:

“The Lancet was once a leading British medical journal. It was sober and medically exacting. It was so respected that it was often cited to settle controversial issues in the field of medicine.

Today, it is a shell of its former self, shot through with leftist political ideology. A recent editorial called out the UK Home Secretary for her “appalling and shocking“ comments.

Was it about a drop in research funding or disputed medical opinions or something else of direct relevance to medicine? No, the Secretary opined that new migrants to the UK possessed “values which are at odds with our country“ and brought “heightened levels of criminality“.

Until I read this, I did not realize that the Lancet, a once renowned British medical journal, had  gone the way of the once renowned NEJM. Of course, in ten years it might not matter much as medicine, as we know it, is dying a slow death. In fact, in ten years, the present medical students, soon to be doctors, will probably not be able to understand any actual medical articles anyway.

6/30/23