Thank you again for taking the time to register your concern about the one sided Editorial stance promoted by Richard Horton and the politicization of medicine and science at Lancet. Lest you wonder whether progress has been made, sadly this is far from clear and the answer depends on your perspective. While Richard Horton has engaged with colleagues in Israel, the Manduca letter has not been retracted. Reed Elsevier Editorial policy (http://www.reedelsevier.com/corporateresponsibility/Documents/policies/reed-elsevier-editorial-policy.pdf) clearly states that " We have a responsibility to all stakeholders, including our authors, customers,and employees, to produce information of the highest quality, which is accurate, comprehensible, and timely; which avoids bias, defamation, conflict of interest or plagiarism; which makes a clear distinction between fact and opinion". Our challenge to Elsevier to independently investigate whether publication of the Manduca letter has violated their own editorial policy has been ignored. Similarly, the obvious violations of Lancet policy governing their own Ombudsman activity (they state unambiguously that 'the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters relating to criticism of Editorial content') have not been addressed. Hence it is 'business as usual" at Lancet and Elsevier, where rules are made and broken by Journal Editorial staff without concern or consequences. The tragic events or last week in France highlight the opportunity to clarify one's moral standing. Contrast the clearly written Editorial in Nature, (Science and Satire http://www.nature.com/news/science-and-satire-1.16703) which specifically addresses Islamic terrorism, stifling of freedoms and science in the Arab and Islamic world, and the attack of a kosher supermarket, with how the same topic was addressed in In the Lancet Editorial 'Outrage' http://www.thelancet.com/pb/assets/raw/Lancet/pdfs/S0140673614623904.pdf. Any idea who the perpetrators were and what their ideology was after reading the Lancet Editorial? No, I didn't think so...... So we have a consistent pattern of moral obfuscation, violation of publishing guidelines, failure to take remedial action, and one-sided politicization of medical publishing. Not to mention the mercenary way in which Elsevier continues to interact with academic institutions http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-schmitt/academic-journals-the-mos_1_b_6368204.html. Please continue to ask yourselves whether Elsevier, Lancet and its affiliates are your preferred partners for your academic activities. All the best for a peaceful, healthy, and ethical 2015. Daniel Drucker