Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association is put on administrative leave over tweet that claimed there is no racism in health care because ‘no physician is racist’

 The editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has been put on leave after a tweet that stoked backlash. 

An independent committee that oversees the journal started an investigation and, on Thursday, said Dr Howard Bauchner will be replaced by an interim editor pending results of the probe.

On February 24, a tweet from the journal's official account read: 'No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?'     

The tweet was promoting a podcast episode featuring two white doctors discussing how structural racism worsens health outcomes and what health systems can do to address it, JAMA said in an online description.  

However, it sparked an outcry from other medical professionals, who called the tweet and podcast 'cringeworthy' and 'appalling.'

JAMA removed the podcast earlier this month and Bauchner issued an apology.  

Dr Howard Bauchner (pictured), editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was placed on administrative leave on Thursday after a tweet from the journal's account read: 'No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?'

Dr Howard Bauchner (pictured), editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was placed on administrative leave on Thursday after a tweet from the journal's account read: 'No physician is racist, so how can there be structural racism in health care?'

JAMA said the tweet was promoting a podcast episode featuring two white doctors discussing structural racism

JAMA said the tweet was promoting a podcast episode featuring two white doctors discussing structural racism

'The decision to place the editor-in-chief on administrative leave neither implicates nor exonerates individuals and is standard operating procedure for such investigations,' the independent committee said in a statement.

JAMA's executive editor, Dr Phil Fontanarosa, will serve as interim editor.

'It's a reasonable first step but it should not be seen as mission accomplished,' Dr Raymond Givens, a black cardiologist in New York, said on Friday. 

He has been a vocal online critic of a lack of diversity among editors of JAMA and other prominent medical journals. 

The AMA's chief equity officer, Dr Aletha Maybank, who is black, called the JAMA tweet and podcast 'absolutely appalling.'

Dr Brittani James, a black Chicago physician who co-founded the Institute for Anti-Racism in Medicine, accused the journal of 'whitesplaining racism.' 


The podcast was billed as a discussion for skeptics and featured two white doctors: a deputy journal editor and a physician who runs a New York City health system.

The episode, designed for doctors, was first posted last week and was billed as a discussion for skeptics. 

It included comments that racism is illegal and a term that should be avoided because it evokes negative feelings. 

'Structural racism is an unfortunate term,' said Dr Ed Livingston, the deputy editor, said on the podcast. 

'Personally, I think taking racism out of the conversation will help. Many people like myself are offended by the implication that we are somehow racist.' 

Livingston later resigned at Bauchner's request and JAMA created a new associate editor position for someone with expertise in racism in health care. 

The tweet and the podcast sparked an outcry from other medical professionals, who called both 'cringeworthy' and 'appalling'

The tweet and the podcast sparked an outcry from other medical professionals, who called both 'cringeworthy' and 'appalling' 

The Chicago-based American Medical Association owns and publishes JAMA and had called the podcast 'wrong' and 'harmful.'

It has no editorial control over JAMA's content but Bauchner reports to the oversight committee. 

Only one of the seven oversight committee members is black and the editorial boards of JAMA and other leading medical journals are mostly white, Givens noted.

'Without diversity, you don't know what you don't know,' he said. 

'With such a non-diverse panel of people, you have all these blind spots that allow these podcasts to go from execution to publication without anybody saying: "Wait a minute, this is ill-advised."'

Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association is put on administrative leave over tweet that claimed there is no racism in health care because ‘no physician is racist’ Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association is put on administrative leave over tweet that claimed there is no racism in health care because ‘no physician is racist’ Reviewed by CUZZ BLUE on March 27, 2021 Rating: 5

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