The American Medical Association (AMA) has reached a settlement with Dr George Lundberg, avoiding a possible lawsuit by him.

Dr Lundberg was fired last month as editor of JAMA (the journal of the American Medical Association) because he “fast tracked” the publication of a paper–which indicated that university students in the United States did not think that oral sex was “real sex”–in the midst of the impeachment trial of President Clinton.

In a bland and uninformative statement both parties said that they had resolved “substantive differences” and “wish to underscore their absolute commitment to JAMA’s editorial integrity, independence, and excellence.” Terms of the agreement and whether there was a monetary settlement were “private and confidential,” said an AMA spokesperson. Dr Lundberg’s lawyer did not return telephone calls.

The joint statement indicated that Dr Lundberg would continue “contributing to scientific medical research and medical journalism, including JAMA, subject to editorial discretion.”

The AMA spokesperson said, “Dr Lundberg will not be hired again. He can submit papers and will be treated as other contributors. It’s up to the JAMA editors.”

Dismissal of Dr Lundberg after 17 years as editor, brought a flood of protest. An editorial supporting Dr Lundberg was signed by 26 JAMA editors (including the two interim editors of the journal), 10 editors of affiliated AMA journals, and 16 members of the editorial board (JAMA 1999: 281;460). Dr Donald Lindberg, director of the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, resigned from JAMA’s editorial board.

Meanwhile, the AMA appointed a committee to be headed by one of the protesters, Dr Roger Rosenberg, professor of neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, to Conduct an international search for a new editor.

The AMA officer who fired Dr Lundberg, executive vice president Dr E Ratcliffe Anderson, said, “The AMA will go to whatever lengths are necessary to demonstrate its absolute commitment to editorial independence … The committee also will be charged with determining how the editor’s performance can best be measured.”