麻豆传媒

Howard Bauchner, MD, JAMA's editor-in-chief since 2011, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into a heavily criticized podcast about structural racism in medicine.

In a statement shared with 麻豆传媒 but not posted publicly, the American Medical Association's Journal Oversight Committee said the decision to place Bauchner on leave "neither implicates nor exonerates individuals and is standard operating procedure for such investigations."

The committee said the investigation will look into how the podcast and a tweet that promoted it were "developed, reviewed, and ultimately published." It said it "has engaged independent outside investigators from the Zuber Lawler firm to ensure objectivity and the integrity of the investigation."

Phil Fontanarosa, MD, JAMA's long-time executive editor, will serve as interim editor, the statement said.

The controversy began with a Feb. 24 JAMA Network podcast (now deleted) in which host and then-JAMA Deputy Editor Edward Livingston, MD, said, "Structural racism is an unfortunate term. Personally, I think taking racism out of the conversation will help. Many of us are offended by the concept that we are racist."

A tweet promoting the podcast (since deleted but ) stated, "No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?"

On March 4, internal medicine resident Shirlene Obuobi, MD, who goes by ShirlyWhirlMD on Twitter outlining several criticisms of the episode, which echoed loudly around #medtwitter.

Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH, chief health equity officer at the AMA, were actually "a demonstration of structural & institutional racism. I am furious."

Bauchner subsequently on Twitter, apologizing for the podcast and tweet and taking responsibility for the "lapses." He also recorded an . Livingston resigned about a week later.

Yet some did not think that went far enough. A petition initiated by the Institute for Antiracism in Medicine that has garnered nearly 7,000 signatures called for a "formal review of the leadership displayed by Dr. Howard Bauchner." It also called for a restructuring of editorial staff and for scheduling a series of town halls with "Black, Indigenous, and People of Color patients, health care staff, and allies."

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