Arnold S. Relman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arnold S. Relman
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| Born | June 17, 1923 Queens, New York, US
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| Died | June 17, 2014 (aged 91) Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
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| Education | Cornell University |
| Alma mater | College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University |
| Known for | Editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. Contributions to medical education. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Internal medicine, social medicine, education |
| Institutions | The New England Journal of Medicine |
Arnold Seymour Relman (June 17, 1923 – June 17, 2014) was an important American doctor and professor. Many people knew him as Bud Relman. He taught medicine and how health care affects society. From 1977 to 1991, he was the main editor of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), a very famous medical journal.
As editor, he made two big changes. First, he asked news reporters not to share information about articles before they were officially published. Second, he made sure that authors had to tell everyone if they had any personal connections that might affect their work. Dr. Relman also wrote a lot about how medical journals should work and how to make the U.S. health care system better. He believed that health care should not be for profit. He finished his career as a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Contents
About Arnold Relman's Life
Arnold Relman was born in Queens, New York, in 1923.
He studied at Cornell University and then at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University to become a doctor. After medical school, he got sick with tuberculosis. Even though a new medicine called streptomycin was available, he chose not to use it. He was worried about its strong side effects. Because of this, he had to rest for several years, which delayed his career. During this time, he read a book called "Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann. This book was about people staying in a hospital for tuberculosis. It really affected him, and he often told his medical students to read it.
Dr. Relman taught at several universities. He was a professor at Boston University School of Medicine. Later, he became a professor and head of the medicine department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Finally, he taught at Harvard Medical School.
He was also an editor for important medical journals. He edited the Journal of Clinical Investigation from 1962 to 1967. Then, he became the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) from 1977 to 1991.
Dr. Relman was the only person to lead three major American medical research groups: the American Federation for Clinical Research, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. In 1988, he was given an Honorary Fellowship by the New York University School of Medicine.
Arnold Relman passed away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2014, on his 91st birthday. He had a type of skin cancer called melanoma. He was married to Harriet Vitkin for 40 years, and they had three children: David Relman, John Relman, and Margaret Relman Batten. His second wife, Marcia Angell, also became an editor of NEJM. She was the first woman to hold that important job.
Arnold Relman's Ideas
Why He Criticized For-Profit Health Care
Dr. Relman strongly believed that health care in America should not be about making money. He thought it was wrong for companies to profit from people's health. He once said that drug companies were influencing doctors and even medical schools too much. He felt this was "disgraceful."
He even created the term "medical–industrial complex." This term describes how health care was becoming more like a business. He was upset that health care was being sold like a product, where only those who could pay got the best care. He thought health care should be given based on what a patient needed, not how much money they had.
He believed there were two main ways to fix the system. First, he wanted a "single-payer" system. This means one main group, like the government, would pay for everyone's health care, similar to how Medicare works for older people. He did not want private insurance companies that are owned by investors. Second, he wanted health care to be provided by non-profit groups. These groups would pay doctors a salary and work within a set budget.
In 1999, Dr. Relman took part in a discussion at Harvard Medical School. The topic was whether doctors should form unions and if health care should be for profit. He believed that while managed care (a way to control health costs) would probably stay, the current "marketplace" way of doing health care was not good. He said that for the system to work well, it needed to be "not-for-profit, community-based, and run by doctors and local health care groups." He felt that if health care was non-profit, doctors would not need unions.
His Thoughts on Alternative Medicine
Dr. Relman was very careful about what is called alternative, complementary, or Integrative Medicine (CAM). These are treatments that are not usually part of standard medicine. In 1998, he wrote about his views:
He believed there is only one kind of good medicine. It doesn't matter if it's called "conventional" or "unconventional." All treatments must be tested carefully and fairly. He said there's only one way to find out if a treatment truly works. In the end, there will only be treatments that are proven to work and those that are not. He questioned if there could be any other reasonable way to think about it.
Works
- Relman, Arnold S. "The New Medical-Industrial Complex". N Engl J Med 303(17):963-70, 1980. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198010233031703
