The Executive of the Board of WAME has sent the following letter to the President of the Massachusetts Medical Society expressing WAME's concern over the dismissal of Dr. Jerome Kassirer, Editor-in-chief, New England Journal of Medicine.

We encourage all editors of medical journals to publish this letter in their journals.

Bruce P. Squires, MD, PhD
Vice-President, WAME
for the Executive Committee of the Board

Text of the letter:

Jack T. Evjy, MD, President
Massachusetts Medical Society
860 Winter Street
Waltham, MA 02451-1411

Dear Dr. Evjy:

The Executive Board of the World Association of Medical Editors views with dismay the forced departure of the Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine over an issue that directly threatens the quality and independence of the journal. We also protest in the strongest terms against the process of his removal, which bypassed the journal's Publications Committee. We strongly urge the Massachusetts Medical Society to review its relations with its Editor-in-Chief and to establish mechanisms for the future that will protect his or her editorial integrity.

Fiona Godlee, President, WAME
Executive Editor, Clinical Evidence; Assistant Editor, BMJ

Drummond Rennie, Past President, WAME
Deputy Editor (West), JAMA

Suzanne Fletcher, Vice President, WAME
Professor, Harvard Medical School
Past Editor, Annals of Internal Medicine

Bruce Squires, Vice President, WAME
Past Editor-in-chief, Canadian Medical Association Journal

John Overbeke, Treasurer, WAME
Executive Editor, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde

Daniel Ncayiyana, Secretary, WAME
Editor, South African Medical Journal