Controversy
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 report 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. 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. The Canadian Medical Association then fired Hoey, without giving a reason.
On February 28, 2006, the acting-editor, Stephen Choi and editorial fellow Sally Murray, resigned from journal over the same reason leaving it without any full-time editorial staff, which raised questions about the future of the publication. In January 2007, Paul Hebert became editor-in-chief. After completion of Paul Hebert's term, John Fletcher became editor-in-chief in January 2012.
In April 2007, the former staff launched a new open-access journal, Open Medicine.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Medical Association Journal
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