Mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds: rebuttal.

نویسندگان

  • Merril A Pauls
  • Jocelyn Downie
چکیده

© 2004 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors We applaud the Executive of the Section on Emergency Medicine of the Ontario Medical Association for their call to action. We support many of the points made in their position statement but ultimately believe that a law for the mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds will do more harm than good. Ovens describes the support the position statement has garnered, but he fails to mention that neither the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians nor the Canadian Medical Association support such mandatory reporting. We recognize that some suicidal patients will pose an ongoing risk to themselves or others and that their access to guns must be addressed. However, a psychiatrist, not the police, should evaluate this risk. Ovens cites concerns that one-third of firearm-related accidents involve children. However, current laws regarding child protection allow physicians to report these cases — to child and family services workers, not to the police. We encourage physicians to support police investigations within the context of current Canadian laws and professional regulations. Although Ovens claims that he is not advocating for physicians to become crime fighters, that is exactly what we believe a law for mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds would do. Ovens points to US laws for the reporting of gunshot wounds as a model to follow, and yet Canada and the United States have different cultures, and the level of gun violence is dramatically higher in the United States. US laws for reporting gunshot wounds have many critics as well. Firearm education and gun safety efforts should be enhanced. Psychiatric services must be made easily accessible to suicidal patients. Databases of firearm-related violence should be created. All of these goals can be accomplished without new legislation and without requiring physicians to report gunshot wounds to the police. A law for the mandatory reporting of gunshot wounds will have few benefits, interfere with the care of patients and place physicians in an inappropriate role.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Selective non-operative management in abdominal gunshot wounds

Introduction: Effects of high velocity bullet in Abdominal wall injuries specially the blast effect on intra abdominal organs needs mandatory explorative laparatomy to manage any major and minor injuries . Usually many explorative laparatomies are negative , but it can be reduced by advanced radiologic techniques such as ultrasonography ,CT – Scan , MRI preoperatively. In patients with negativ...

متن کامل

The importance of victim’s clothes in gunshot wounds

Objective: Determination of victim’s clothes in gunshot wounds is important due to the necessity of immediate workup in the emergency room as well as the legal aspects of cases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the importance of victim’s clothes in gunshot wounds referred to autopsy hall of legal medicine bureau of Tehran, Iran from 2014 to 2017.Methods: In this analytical comparative...

متن کامل

Gunshot wound without entrance hole: where is the trick? – a case report and review of the literaturer

The presence at CT scan of more retained bullets than expected could be a very difficult interpretation challenge in the early management of gunshot wounds. The modern non operative management of haemodinamically stable patients without peritonitis requires that the trajectory of the bullet is clearly recognized. This clinical case reporting of a gunshot wound without evident entry hole, allows...

متن کامل

Reporting of gunshot wounds by doctors in emergency departments: a duty or a right? Some legal and ethical issues surrounding breaking patient confidentiality.

Recent guidelines have been produced advising doctors working in emergency departments that they should report all gunshot injuries to the police (albeit with consent in all but very limited circumstances). This article will discuss some of the legal and ethical issues that surround breaking patient confidentiality in relation to gunshot wounds and other potentially dangerous patients; and look...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:
  • CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne

دوره 170 8  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2004