Commentary
The increasingly personal clash between Newsweek and the American Board of Internal Medicine reached a new level on May 21, with the release of another Newsweek article parsing ABIM’s finances and a swift letter of response by ABIM’s president.
Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald’s latest in a series of sharply critical articles about the board, “Medical Mystery: Making Sense of ABIM’s Financial Report,” plunged into the organization’s latest IRS financial filings to retrieve pay estimates for top officials, including ABIM President and CEO Dr. Richard J. Baron. (Newsweek’s estimate for Dr. Baron’s annualized compensation: $860,926.)
Mr. Eichenwald also called on Congress and federal regulators to investigate the ABIM’s financial books and curb its market power. “It is time for Congress to investigate the ABIM and force these millionaires to prove they aren’t damaging America’s health care system for personal profit,” he wrote.
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ABIM fired back almost immediately. In an open letter to ABIM diplomates on May 22, Dr. Baron defended ABIM’s bookkeeping and questioned Mr. Eichenwald’s motives.
Dr. Baron began by acknowledging the ongoing criticism of ABIM’s maintenance of certification program – “much of it critical; a lot of it valid.”
But he also cited “considerable inaccurate information” in an earlier Newsweek article about ABIM, as well as failure by Mr. Eichenwald and Newsweek to respond to ABIM’s concerns about the article’s accuracy. That prompted ABIM to decide not to work with Mr. Eichenwald. ABIM did talk with other publications that are investigating the organization, Dr. Baron added. “Some of the articles that resulted from those interviews were critical of ABIM, but we cooperated because the reporters acted professionally and in good faith.”
Dr. Baron defended himself and the ABIM against “two of the most egregious and misleading charges” in the Newsweek articles. “First, we have never made any effort to obfuscate, hide or delay ABIM’s financial information,” he countered.
And as for his own pay?
“Second, no one is trying to hide salaries. I earned $688,000 in compensation in 2014 and $55,000 in deferred compensation.”
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