Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Preventing Gun Deaths in Children — New England Journal of Medicine

Gun-related injury is the second leading cause of death of youth each year - over 6,000 in 2010.  Two Boston pediatricians discuss the barriers to gathering the public health data needed to devise effective preventive strategies. - GWC
Preventing Gun Deaths in Children — NEJM: by Judith S. Palfrey, M.D., and Sean Palfrey, M.D.
"Despite this evidence, in 2011, Florida passed legislation, the Firearms Owners' Privacy Act, making it illegal for a doctor to conduct preventive screening by asking families about guns in the home — essentially “gagging” health care providers. Under the aegis of the Second Amendment, the First Amendment rights and the Hippocratic responsibilities of physicians were challenged. In response, the AAP's Florida chapter brought suit, and in June 2012, Miami-based U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke issued a permanent injunction banning the state from enforcing the law. Governor Rick Scott has appealed the ruling, and similar bills have been introduced in three additional states.At the federal level, problematic language was introduced into the Affordable Care Act. Section 2717(c) sets restrictions on the collection and aggregation of data on guns in the home. Furthermore, Congress has restricted the research activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by stipulating that no funds that are made available for injury prevention and control at the CDC “may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” Strictures like these often have a chilling effect on the gathering of important public health data." 'via Blog this'

No comments:

Post a Comment