06.18.2018

AMA Denounces “Carnage of Gun Violence”

The American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) House of Delegates – the group’s policy making arm – met last week and adopted a series of positions, including those addressing gun violence and pharmaceutical shortages.

The gun policy recommendations include having the AMA support laws allowing family members, intimate partners, household members and law enforcement personnel to petition a court for the removal of a firearm when there is a high or imminent risk for violence; prohibiting persons who are under domestic violence restraining orders, convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes or stalking from possessing or purchasing firearms; and requiring domestic violence restraining orders and gun violence restraining orders to be entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. AMA will also advocate for schools to be gun-free zones and oppose requirements or incentives for teachers to carry weapons.

“In emergency rooms across the country, the carnage of gun violence has become a too routine experience,” said AMA Immediate Past President David O. Barbe, M.D.  Read all of the AMA’s gun proposals here.

As for pharmaceuticals, the AMA said the recent shortages that resulted from Hurricane Maria’s effect on pharmaceutical manufacturing in Puerto Rico demonstrate that the federal government should consider drug shortages “a national security initiative” and that vital pharmaceutical production sites should be considered “critical infrastructure.”