Letters, Dec. 18, 1939

(4 of 4)

I am surprised to learn that you have appointed me "A. M. A.'s education secretary.' I hold membership in the organization bu I am neither an officer nor an employe.

I happen to know the personnel of the group which you dub "An A. M. A.-inspired citizens' committee." This attempt to slur a group of distinguished, public-spirited Chicagoans reflects only discredit upon the source of your news. . . .

IRVING S. CUTTER, M.D.

Dean

Northwestern University Medical School

Chicago, Ill.

> TIME'S apologies to Dr. Irving Samuel Cutter for giving him the title of his relative Dr. William Dick Cutter. TIME had no notion that "A. M. A.-inspired" was a slur.—ED.

Sirs:

ITEM MISERY HARBOR TIME THIS WEEK IS AMAZING. . . . AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH APPOINTMENT CITIZENS' COMMITTEE, HAS NO REPRESENTATIVE

ON THAT COMMITTEE, HAS NEVER ASKED FOR NEW DIRECTOR, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HAS NOT PROMISED REINSTATEMENT OR ANYTHING. ... IS THERE ANYTHING ACCURATE IN YOUR STORY?

MORRIS FISHBEIN

Chicago, Ill.

> Yes. Aside from the slip of giving one Dr. Cutter the other's title every thing in TIME'S story was substantially correct. Dr. Fishbein is denying in some cases things that TIME did not say; in others, quibbling on technicalities.

TIME said that a new medical director, satisfactory to A. M. A., had finally been appointed to Cook County Hos pital in order to obtain reinstatement of the hospital on A. M. A.'s approved list. Dr. William Dick Cutter (who is the secretary of the A. M. A. Council on Medical Education and Hospitals) said recently in a published interview: "The appointment of Dr. Davison is evidently an effort to fulfill the recommendation of the American Medical Association and the citizen's committee. No action [on the hospital's rein statement] can be taken by the council until its meeting Dec. 10."

A baldfaced editorial in the current issue of Editor Fishbein's A. M. A. Journal accuses TIME of eleven "misstatements" in the same story. To any physician interested, TIME will gladly send, on request, a copy of its letter to Dr. Fishbein, answering him point by point.

This week Cook County Hospital was restored to A. M. A.'s approved list.— ED.