Canadian Medical Association Journal

The Canadian Medical Association Journal (French Journal de l'Association Médicale Canadienne) is a

1. Banting and Best's 1922 report, "Pancreatic extracts in the treatment of diabetes mellitus". Banting and Macleod were awarded a Nobel Prize for the discovery of insulin in 1923.^[1]
2. 1926 – the first use of liver as a treatment for anemia, which led to the isolation of vitamin B12.
3. 1938 – CMAJ warns about the relationship between sun exposure and skin cancer.^[2]
4. 2003 – CMAJ responds rapidly to SARS (
   severe acute respiratory syndrome), publishing timely information during the outbreak.^[3]
5. 2009 – CMAJ publishes a research paper on the increased risk of reinfarction associated with
   proton pump inhibitors and clopidogrel, which has been widely cited and generated related research studies on the topic.^[4]

A prime mover behind establishment of the Canadian Medical Association Journal was Andrew Macphail, chair of the history of medicine at McGill University and editor of the Montreal Medical Journal. At the Canadian Medical Association's 1907 annual meeting held in Montreal, "Macphail argued that without a journal to express its views and record its proceedings the association would have little impact", and was successful in getting a clause urging the founding of a journal put into the CMA constitution. At the 1910 meeting an executive report was adopted urging immediate steps to found a journal. Macphail was appointed the first editor.^[5]

The Montreal Medical Journal was acquired, and the Maritime Medical News agreed to suspend publication. The first issue of the new Canadian Medical Association Journal was published in January 1911. In 1913, for the first time, the journal showed a profit, which was sufficient to liquidate the previous deficit. Subscriptions had increased 60% over the 1911 level and were being purchased by 20% of Canadian doctors.^[5]

• 
  First issue of Canadian Medical Association Journal, January 1911
• 
  Montreal Medical Journal, January 1906.

On February 20, 2006, the editor-in-chief, John Hoey, was fired over an editorial independence dispute with the then owners of the journal, CMA Media. The journal sent 13 women to buy the emergency contraceptive levonorgestrel (Plan B) over-the-counter in pharmacies across Canada and reported their experiences. The pharmacists asked them for personal data, including the women's names, addresses, dates of last menstrual period, when they had unprotected sex, customary method of birth control, and reason for dispensing the medication. This was at the recommendation of the Canadian Pharmacists Association, which also advised members to store the information permanently in their computers. The Canadian Women's Health Network said that collecting this information was unnecessary and a violation of privacy.^[6] The Canadian Pharmacists Association complained to the Canadian Medical Association, demanding that the names of the pharmacists be removed from the article. The Canadian Medical Association ordered the journal to comply.^[7] The Canadian Medical Association then fired Hoey, without giving a reason.

On February 28, 2006, the acting-editor,

On February 29, 2016, a similar controversy re-surfaced as the Canadian Medical Association disbanded the CMAJ's Journal Oversight Committee and dismissed editor-in-chief John Fletcher. The CMA cited a falling impact factor and a decline in research submissions as reasons for the change, but these claims are disputed. Diane Kelsall, a long-time CMAJ deputy editor, became interim editor-in-chief while the organization searched for a permanent replacement.[11]

In December 2021, CMAJ published a letter that said the

James Maskalyk became the executive editor-in-chief in 2022.^[13]

See also

• Canadian Family Physician
•  Canada portal
•  Medicine portal

References