Healthy Skepticism Library item: 14357

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Liesegang TJ.
Commercialism, Loss of Professionalism, and the Effect on Journals
Archives of Ophthalmology 2008 Sep; 126:(9):1292-1295.
http://archopht.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/126/9/1292

Abstract:

Immanuel Kant stated, “Everything has either a price, or it possesses dignity.“1(p53) Downie further elaborated that professionals should be “independent of the state or commerce.“2 Medicine is the prototype profession, incorporating a specific body of knowledge; a demonstrated competence in defining problems and solutions; a commitment to self-improvement, self-monitoring, and self-regulation; a system of admission and monitoring new members; and an ethical responsibility to use the unique knowledge and competence for the best interests of patients (ie, to resolve conflicts of interest in our patients’ favor).3 In recognition of certain conduct, society confers professional status to physicians, but this privilege must be repeatedly earned for the status to be preserved. In this article, I delineate the specific challenges peer-reviewed medical journals face in this age of commercialism within the medical profession.