US Prosecutor Addresses Medical Journal, Accusing It of Bias

A federal prosecutor has addressed a medical journal via letter, inquiring about its selection process for articles, as confirmed by the journal’s publishers.

“The American College of Chest Physicians, which publishes the journal CHEST, can confirm that we have received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice, and its contents were made public online without our consent,” stated a spokesperson for the college in an email to The Epoch Times on April 21.

“Our legal counsel is currently assessing the DOJ’s request. At this moment, we have no further comments beyond our statement.”

The letter, dated April 14, was sent by Edward Martin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

He requested that Dr. Peter Mazzone, the editor-in-chief of CHEST, respond to five inquiries, including whether the journal accepts submissions presenting opposing viewpoints.

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“I am also curious to know if you, your publishing partners, or any journals are modifying their criteria for accepting competing viewpoints,” Martin wrote. “Are new standards being put in place?”

He requested a response by May 2.

Martin’s office did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.

The college affirmed that the journal adheres to ethical guidelines and upholds the editorial independence of the publication.

It remains unclear whether similar letters were dispatched to other journals. A representative from PLOS informed The Epoch Times via email that it had not received such correspondence. Other journals did not respond to inquiries.

Numerous free speech advocacy groups protested the letter, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

“When a U.S. Attorney uses the power of his office to scrutinize medical journals based on their content, he fails to fulfill his duties and undermines his constitutional vows. This constitutes an abuse of authority aimed at suppressing protected speech.”