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Article
July 1995

The Archives of Surgery at Age 75: A Time for Reassessment

Author Affiliations

George D. Lundberg, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Scientific Publications of the American Medical Association, is editor ofJAMA. Formerly chairperson of the Departments of Pathology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Davis, Dr Lundberg is a widely sought-after lecturer, author, and health care policy expert.

Arch Surg. 1995;130(7):734-735. doi:10.1001/archsurg.1995.01430070056010
Abstract

MANY AMERICAN physicians, and even many nonphysicians, still know the name of Morris Fishbein, MD, the 25-year (1924 to 1949) legendary seventh editor of JAMA. In many ways, Fishbein was the voice of American medicine, serving much of his time as not only the editor of JAMA but also as chief administrative officer of the American Medical Association (AMA) and American medicine's loudest, most eloquent, and most influential spokesman.1 However, few American physicians, and hardly any nonphysicians, remember his immediate predecessor, George H. Simmons, MD, who also served as the editor of JAMA for 25 years and held many other influential posts as well. It is my opinion that George Simmons had more impact on American medicine than did Morris Fishbein. Why? Because, during his 25 years (1899 to 1924), he brought JAMA circulation from 1000 to 80 000 and made it the foremost medical publication in the world.

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