Medline 'Oversight' - Orthomolecular Journal Not Indexed
CategoriesThe Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine regularly publishes interesting articles, such as the one by Alan Gaby MD which discusses "safety limits" for vitamins and which I cited in a recent post titled "Risk Free Vitamins - How Safe is Safe Enough?".
One would think that Medline, the major internet-based reference work for medical scientific literature should list the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine as part of its database of public information. Yet, they refuse to list that journal, effectively slanting the scientific record against the use of micronutrients in health care. What to say? Another case of pro-pharma bias at the expense of people's health? Certainly there is a lack of transparency.
Andrew Saul of doctoryourself.com believes it is and asks anyone interested to contact the Medline editors asking that the Journal be included in the database...
JUST WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT, ANYWAY?
The Smithsonian Institution's United States National Tick Collection, with over one million tick specimens, makes it, quite understandably, the world's largest.
On the other hand, the world's largest medical library, the U. S. National Library of Medicine, does not see fit to index the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine.
Why?
Is it really a matter of funds? The National Museum of American History is spending $18 million to "clean and conserve" the 1814 "Star Spangled Banner" flag that flew over Fort McHenry. (Smithsonian magazine, June 2004, p 59.)
That's eighteen MILLION dollars.
What, exactly, would be the cost to index one additional medical journal?
The U.S. government that lets the U.S. Forest Service sell the public's forests to private lumber corporations at a $2 billion annual loss to the taxpayer. This is, of course, the same government that gave the nuclear power industry over $40 billion since 1948, according to the Multinational Monitor (http://multinationalmonitor.org)
Medline is self-described as "the NLM's premier bibliographic database covering the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. MEDLINE contains bibliographic citations and author abstracts from more than 4,800 biomedical journals . . . The database contains over 12 million citations dating back to the mid-1960's."
Just how hard would it really be for the National Library of Medicine to electronically index one more scientific journal on Medline, for the public's benefit?
And doesn't the government owe the public full disclosure of all new nutritional research that can help people, including what is published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine? Politicized science and research cover-ups hurt citizens. The U. S. General Accounting Office has stated that over 500,000 Americans were "used as subjects in Cold War era radiation, biological and chemical experiments sponsored by the federal government," often without their consent. (Scripps Howard News Service, 29 Sept, 1994.) There is a terrible price to pay for secret agendas, selective science and information suppression.
Medline, which formerly only went back to 1966, now provides an additional two million citations from medical journals all the way back to 1951. While in itself good news, it also more than suggests that the national Library of Medicine has the funding, personnel and capability to index the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine without further ado. The availability of "Old Medline," as it is nicknamed, now means that references to hundreds of scientific papers by vitamin discoverer Roger J. Williams, niacin psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, Professor of Oral Medicine Emanuel Cheraskin, and twice Nobel prize-winner Linus Pauling can now be electronically tapped from everywhere they published, for the last 55 years. . . with one conspicuous exception. Every word they ever wrote in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine remains excluded from indexed cyberspace.
One can not help but wonder why an author's work is significant if published in one journal, but not even worth mentioning if published in another.
The National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine's Medline and Old Medline collectively form one of the world's truly splendid research tools. Going back to 1951 is a good idea. Why stop there? What about 36 consecutive years' worth of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, as well as the current research it continues to publish even as you read this?
As public libraries should be free to rich and poor alike, so public access to scientific knowledge should not be screened or censored. Science is neither a guild nor a members-only club.
Or at least it shouldn't be any longer.
TELL IT TO THE BOSS
Many Newsletter readers have already written to Medline and received useless answers from government contractors.
Well then, let's write to the top man.
The Executive Editor of Medline is Mr. Sheldon Kotzin. His email address is
Please send him a polite email requesting that he please include the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine in the MEDLINE database and index.Talking points:
* The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine has been published for 36 consecutive years.
* It has an editorial review board of physicians and university researchers.
* The Journal has published papers by prominent scientists, including twice Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling.
* Electronic indexing makes health information readily accessible to libraries and to the public.
* Medline indexes over 4,800 journals, and has funds to reach all the way back to 1951.
*Why, exactly, is the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine excluded?
*Courteously ask for action, and for a response.
I would very much appreciate it if you'd send me a copy of Mr. Kotzin's replies. My email is drsaul@doctoryourself.com .
MODERN MEDICINE NOW LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN USA
It is not every day that three medical doctors author a paper (with 153 references) to document the fact that nearly one MILLION Americans are killed by modern medicine EACH YEAR. This means that hospitals, pharmaceuticals and doctors are the number one cause of death in the United States. (Carolyn Dean MD, Martin Feldman MD, Debora Rasio MD, Dorothy Smith PhD, Gary Null PhD. Death by medicine. 2003)
Dr. Abram Hoffer says: "I just read "Death by Medicine" on Andrew Saul's web site,
DoctorYourself.com. It is a very important document and must be distributed as widely as possible. I find the information in this report to be very valuable, very impressive, and frightening."
Read the full text article athttp://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html
1 July 2004 - UPDATE ON MEDLINEA special thank-you to all the many Doctor Yourself Newsletter readers who took the time to write to the National Library of Medicine to request that the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine be included in MEDLINE's electronic index. MEDLINE is like a "Google" of medical publications. I believe everyone should have internet access to all health research, not just some of it.
The next question is, exactly who is deciding what you may or may not read?
Most letters that readers sent to MEDLINE's Executive Editor, Sheldon Kotzin, received a form reply from a clerical assistant, saying only that:
"Mr. Kotzin has received your recent email regarding the re-review of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine for inclusion in MEDLINE. The National Library of Medicine uses an advisory committee to recommend journals to be indexed in MEDLINE. This journal will be scheduled for review at the next advisory committee meeting."
We have reason to believe that the next advisory committee meeting and review is scheduled for October, 2004.
But there are genuine problems with this quickie form-letter response. First, it does not tell us exactly why the Journal was previously refused. It is merely a promise of a re-review, whatever that may consist of.
Second, who are the people on the mentioned advisory committee who actually perform the review? Who, exactly, are the persons empowered to decide for you what you may or may not access on MEDLINE, a taxpayer-supported service of the US Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health?
What are the names, and professional qualifications (and professional affiliations) of the "Literature Selection Technical Review Committee" members?
And, how are they selected, and who selects them?
Are these petty, pesky questions, or do interested citizens have a right to know?
Thinking it a good idea to try a direct follow-up with the top man, Medline Editor Mr. Kotzin, a number of people have already written back to kotzins@mail.nlm.nih.gov. They wished to know:
* What are the names of the members of the National Library of Medicine's journal-review advisory committee?
* What are the specific grounds, particular to the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, that have previously disqualified it from inclusion in Medline?
To date, NOT EVEN ONE Newsletter reader has reported any reply to these questions. Judging from my mailbox, which I check several times a day, no one has received ANY response whatsoever to these follow-up questions, or even an acknowledgement that their message was received.
Why? Is there some kind of secret?
It may be time to take this case to a higher level: the U.S. Congress.
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