The editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association are no longer demanding total silence from readers who complain about an author's unreported conflicts of interest. In an editorial that appears tomorrow, Catherine D. DeAngelis and Phil B. Fontanarosa state they will still require readers to "provide (written) documentation to support the allegation," but they will no longer condition their own investigation on the whistleblower keeping silent:

We will explain to the person bringing the allegation that gaining full cooperation of all parties with knowledge of the facts is likely to be enhanced by maintaining confidentiality while the investigation is under way.  

The new policy is the result of a public spat with Jonathan Leo, a professor of neuro-anatomy at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., who last fall informed the JAMA editors that Iowa University psychiatrist Robert Robinson, the lead author of a study evaluating the use of Lexapro (escitalopram) for poststroke depression, had failed to disclose his serving on the speakers bureau of Forest Laboratories, which makes the drug. A subsequent investigation confirmed the charge, and a correction appeared in March. While the investigation was underway, DeAngelis asked Leo's dean to silence the professor, who had also written a letter to the The British Medical Journal about the issue.