CEO DATELINE - Physician groups call for stricter gun-control measures
CEO DATELINE - Physician groups call for stricter gun-control measures
- February 26, 2015 |
-
Walt Williams
Associations claim firearms represent a major health problem
| Want more news?
Consider joining CEO Update. Membership gives full access to the latest intelligence on association management, career advancement, compensation trends and networking events, as well as hundreds of listings for senior-level association jobs.
|
Eight professional health organizations joined with the American Bar Association Tuesday to call for new measures they said would curb U.S. gun violence, including universal background checks for firearm purchases and eliminating laws that prevent doctors from talking to patients about guns.
In a paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the groups noted 32,000 people die in the U.S. every year as the result of gun-related violence, suicides and accidents. They advocated a series of changes that were reviewed by ABA's Standing Committee on Gun Violence, which concluded none of the proposals conflict with the Second Amendment or contradict standing U.S. Supreme Court rulings.
"Gun injuries and deaths are a tragic fact of daily life at our nation's emergency departments," said Dean Wilkerson, executive director the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Although there is disagreement among emergency physicians about firearms in our society, we all agree that the cost in lives and dollars is too high."
One recent policy development that has irked many medical societies is the 2011 passage of Florida law preventing doctors from asking patients about guns in their homes. Several groups took the state to court claiming it violated doctors' free speech rights, but a U.S. Appeals Court upheld the law last year.
In addition to ABA and ACEP, signatories of the statement include American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons and American Psychiatric Association. http://prn.to/1LAzqCw
In an interview with the news site Guns.com, Michael Bazinet, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Federation, said the groups should be focusing on criminal behavior rather than guns. NSSF represents firearms manufacturers.
"Doctors should concentrate on genuine public health issues and there are plenty of those," he said.http://bit.ly/1DPBBTB