REYKJAVIK, Iceland – The Canadian Medical Association says it has resigned from the World Medical Association, accusing the international group’s incoming president of plagiarizing his inaugural speech.
In a statement released on Saturday, the CMA says it discovered that part of Dr. Leonid Eidelman’s speech was taken from a former CMA president’s speech in 2014.
Current CMA president Gigi Osler says she and the Canadian delegation were at the WMA annual general assembly that took place this week in Iceland when they identified similarities in the two speeches.
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She says they pulled their membership after their motion requesting Eidelman to resign was denied.
A spokesman for WMA wrote in an email that Eidelman was not aware his speech was plagiarized because he used speech writers.
Nigel Duncan says Eidelman apologized at the general assembly, and acknowledges that part of his speech was taken from former CMA president Dr. Chris Simpson.