Title Editor Name Morris Fishbein | Spouse(s) Anna Mantel Fishbein Term 1924-1950 Employer JAMA | |
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Born July 22, 1889 ( 1889-07-22 ) St. Louis, Missouri Died September 27, 1976, Chicago, Illinois, United States Books The Popular Medical Encyclopedia | ||
11 Morris Fishbein
Morris Fishbein M.D. (July 22, 1889 – September 27, 1976) was a physician who became the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from 1924 to 1950. In 1961 he became the founding Editor of Medical World News, a magazine for doctors. In 1970 he endowed the Morris Fishbein Center. He was also notable for exposing quacks, notably the goat-gland surgeon John R. Brinkley, and campaigning for regulation of medical devices. Ironically, Dr. Fishbein was himself exposed as quack according to his own definition when he confessed under oath in court in 1952 that he had never practiced a day of medicine or treated a single patient in his entire career.
Contents
- 11 Morris Fishbein
- Roots and Conflict between Religion and Evolutionary Theory Robert Richards
- Biography
- Publications
- References
"Roots and Conflict between Religion and Evolutionary Theory" Robert Richards
Biography
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 22, 1889. He studied at Rush Medical College where he graduated in 1913. Fishbein served for 18 months as a resident physician at the Durand Hospital for Infectious Diseases.
He joined George H. Simmons, editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), as an assistant and advanced to the editorship in 1924, a position he maintained until 1950. He was on the cover of TIME on June 21, 1937. In 1938, along with the AMA, he was indicted for violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The AMA was convicted and fined $2,500 but Fishbein was acquitted.
In 1961 he became the founding Editor of Medical World News, a magazine for doctors. In 1970 he endowed the Morris Fishbein Center for the study of the history of science and medicine at the University of Chicago. Its first activity was a lecture series taking place in May of that year. Allen G. Debus served as director of the Center from 1971 to 1977. Fishbein also endowed a chair at the university for the same subject, a chair taken up by Debus in 1978. The 7th floor in Shoreland Hall at the University of Chicago was known as Fishbein House, using the Fishbein name as its namesake.
He died on September 27, 1976 in Chicago, Illinois. He was survived by two daughters, Barbara Fishbein Friedell and Marjorie Clavey, and his son, Justin M. Fishbein.
Publications
