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 he rave reviews
are coming in for Sally Satel and her new book, P.C.,
M.D.: How Political Correctness is Corrupting Medicine.
Satel's expose of a group she labels
"the indoctrinologists" — medical professionals more concerned
about trendy notions of social justice than the simple health of
patients — has won praise from the Wall Street Journal
(an "excellent study of medicine and society" full of "scientific
precision and moral rigor"), the Baltimore Sun (an "extraordinarily
courageous, punctiliously researched, powerful new book"), and elsewhere.
Then there's the New England Journal of Medicine, which actually
comes in for some criticism on the pages of P.C., M.D.. Satel
is "an unreliable guide," writes the NEJM reviewer. She "makes dubious
accusations." She "omits pertinent information that would weaken
her case." Finally, there's a devastating charge: "Satel invents
data."
The author of the review is "Daniel M. Fox, M.D."
There's only one problem: Daniel M. Fox isn't an M.D. Talk about
inventing data!
Fox is president of the Milbank Memorial Fund, a foundation involved
in public-health policy. He holds a Ph.D. in history,
| “The
author of the review is "Daniel M. Fox, M.D." There's
only one problem: Daniel M. Fox isn't an M.D.” |
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and clearly knows something about the issues discussed in Satel's
book. But he's not a physician. (Satel is an M.D.; she is a practicing
psychiatrist and a lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine.)
"I sent them the right information," Fox told NRO. He claims an
editor inserted the error. Fox also said that he proofread the galleys
and didn't catch the mistake. "I looked at the galleys in great
haste," he explained.
Nobody at the New England Journal of Medicine was available
for comment.
"I've asked them to print a correction," says Fox.
What NEJM might additionally do is print Satel's brief response
to the pseudo-doctor. Satel rebuts several of Fox's key assertions,
most importantly the charge that she "invents data." That accusation,
Satel writes, "is downright irresponsible. …Fox points to no
manufacturing of statistics, numbers, or study findings."
The only "manufacturing" or "invention" of data, in fact, occurs
not on the pages of Satel's book, but in the review written by her
harshest critic.
Editor's note: For more about PC, M.D.
, read read
NRO's interview with Sally Satel.
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