Arnold S. Relman
Arnold S. Relman | |
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| Born | June 17, 1923 Queens, New York, US |
| Died | June 17, 2014 (aged 91) Cambridge, Massachusetts, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Cornell University |
| Alma mater | College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University |
| Known for | Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. Contributions to medical education. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Internal medicine, social medicine, education |
| Institutions | The New England Journal of Medicine |
Arnold Seymour Relman (June 17, 1923 – June 17, 2014) — known as Bud Relman to intimates — was an American
Biography
Relman was born in
He was educated at
Relman was editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation from 1962 to 1967.[6] He was editor of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) from 1977 to 1991.[7]
Relman was the only person to have been president of the American Federation for Clinical Research, the
Relman died in Cambridge, Massachusetts of melanoma in 2014 at the age of 91.[4] He was married to Harriet Vitkin for 40 years, and together they had three children, David Relman, John Relman, and Margaret Relman Batten. His second wife Marcia Angell also served as editor of NEJM and was the first woman to do so.[9]
Views
On for-profit health care
Relman was an uncompromising critic of the American health care system as a profit-driven industry. He once said, "The medical profession is being bought by the pharmaceutical industry, not only in terms of the practice of medicine, but also in terms of teaching and research. The academic institutions of this country are allowing themselves to be the paid agents of the pharmaceutical industry. I think it’s disgraceful."[10]
He coined the term "medical–industrial complex." He deplored the increasing treatment of health care in the US as a "market commodity" distributed according to a patient's ability to pay, not medical need. He believed that the solution would come only by two fundamental structural reforms: implementation of a single-payer financing system like Medicare without investor-owned private insurance companies and provision of a non-profit delivery system, with multi-specialty groups of physicians paid by salary within a preset budget.[11]
In 1999, Relman participated in a Harvard Medical School debate on the subject of unionization of physicians and for-profit health care. His stance was described:
- "Although he believes that managed care is here to stay, the current 'marketplace' state of health care is not viable. In order for the system to work, it is going to have to be 'not-for-profit, community-based, and run by doctors and local health care institutions with the support of community groups.' Keeping the big picture in mind, Relman said, 'Unions are unnecessary in a not-for-profit sector.'"[12]
On alternative medicine
Relman was a decided skeptic regarding the
There are not two kinds of medicine, one conventional and the other unconventional, that can be practiced jointly in a new kind of "integrative medicine." Nor...are there two kinds of thinking, or two ways to find out which treatments work and which do not. In the best kind of medical practice, all proposed treatments must be tested objectively. In the end, there will only be treatments that pass that test and those that do not, those that are proven worthwhile and those that are not. Can there be any reasonable "alternative"?[13]
Works
- Ingelfinger, Franz Josef; —; Finland, Maxwell, eds. (1966). Controversy in Internal Medicine. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: OCLC 500690355.
- Ingelfinger, Franz Josef; —; Finland, Maxwell, eds. (1974). Controversy in Internal Medicine. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. ISBN 9780721650265.
- Relman, Arnold S. "The New Medical-Industrial Complex". N Engl J Med 303(17):963-70, 1980. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198010233031703
- The Future of Medical Practice. Merrimon Lecture Series. Chapel Hill, NC: OCLC 10027873.
- "Publishing Biomedical Research: Roles and responsibilities". PMID 2376495.
- 10 Shattuck Street: Selected Editorials. Waltham, MA: ISBN 9780910133340.
- The Choices for Healthcare Reform. Camp Hill, PA: Pennsylvania Blue Shield Institute. 1992. OCLC 27164594.
- When More is Less: The Paradox of American Health Care and How to Resolve It. New York: ISBN 9780393035797.
- "A trip to Stonesville: Some notes on Andrew Weil". The New Republic. Vol. 219, no. 24. December 14, 1998. p. 28.
- Angell, Marcia; — (Spring 2002). "Patents, profits & American medicine: Conflicts of interest in the testing & marketing of new drugs" (PDF). JSTOR 20027764.
- —; Angell, Marcia (December 16, 2002). "America's other drug problem: How the drug industry distorts medicine and politics" (PDF). The New Republic. Vol. 227, no. 25. pp. 27–41. PMID 12561803. Archived from the original(PDF) on February 17, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
- "Restructuring the U.S. health care system". Issues in Science and Technology. 19 (4). September 2003.
- A Second Opinion: Rescuing America's Health Care. ISBN 9781586484811.
- Relman, Arnold (February 6, 2014). "On Breaking One's Neck". The New York Review of Books.
- "Physicians and politics". Invited Commentary. PMID 24887238.
References
- ^ "Arnold Relman, MD: Physician, Educator, and Editor". www.medpagetoday.com. 2014-06-18. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- ^ "Dr. Arnold Relman". Boston Cremation. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- ^ a b c Martin, Douglas (June 21, 2014). "Dr. Relman, medical editor and health system critic, dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- ^ Harvard Catalyst: The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. "Harvard Catalyst Profiles: Arnold Seymour Relman, M.D." catalyst.harvard.edu. The President and Fellows of Harvard College. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
- PMID 15489944.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- PMID 3072042.
- ^ Marquard, Bryan (17 June 2014). "Dr. Arnold Relman, 91; ex-N.E. Journal of Medicine editor". Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ Relman A, Angell M. America's other drug problem. New Republic 2002. December 16: 27.
- New York Review of Books, (14 Aug issue).
- ^ Chu, Catherine (December 3, 1999). "Panelists debate if doctors should unionize". Focus. Harvard Medical School.
- ^ *"A trip to Stonesville: Some notes on Andrew Weil". The New Republic. Vol. 219, no. 24. December 14, 1998. p. 28.
Further reading
- Peck, Peggy (June 19, 2014). "Arnold Relman, MD: Physician, educator and editor". Public Health Policy. MedPage Today. Little Falls, NJ.
- Lowes, Robert (June 19, 2014). "Arnold Relman, medicine's long-time conscience, dies at 91". Medscape Medical News. Medscape.
- Sabin, James (June 18, 2014). "Arnold Relman: 1923-2014". Over 65 (blog).
- Marquard, Bryan (June 17, 2014). "Dr. Arnold Relman, 91; ex N.E. Journal of Medicine editor". The Boston Globe (Obituary).
- Conaboy, Chelsea (January 28, 2014). "Dr. Arnold Relman on becoming the patient". The Boston Globe.
- Zuger, Abigail (March 19, 2012). "A drumbeat on profit takers". The New York Times. Profiles in Science: Arnold Relman and Marcia Angell.
- Relman, A. (June 5, 1991). "Arnold Relman — the last angry doctor". At Large: with Dennis L. Breo. PMID 2033748.
External links
Media related to Arnold S. Relman at Wikimedia Commons
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