“History reveals that the AMA was dictatorially led for the first half of the twentieth century by George H. Simmons, MD (1852-1937) and his protégé, Morris Fishbein, MD (1889-1976). Simmons and Fishbein both served as general manager of the organization and as editor of its journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). While these two leaders provided substantial benefit to the organization and to medical doctors, their methods of doing so have been severely criticized, with some historians referring to them as ‘medical Mussolinis.’ When George H. Simmons began in 1899 what became a twenty-five-year reign as head of the AMA, it was a weak organization with little money and little respect from the general public. … Simmons came up with the idea to transform the AMA into a big business by granting the AMA’s ’seal of approval’ to certain drug companies that placed large and frequent ads in JAMA and its various affiliate publications.” (05/08/08)