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Doctors are 3 times as deadly as guns.
So why is the AMA targeting firearms?
(7-16-01)
WASHINGTON, DC -- Doctors kill
three times as many people every year as guns do -- which is why the new
head of the American Medical Association should stop crusading against
guns and target incompetent physicians instead, say Libertarians.
"Message to the AMA:
Doctor control would save far more lives
than gun control," said Steve Dasbach, national director of the
Libertarian Party.
"Instead of adopting a
political agenda and working to eliminate the Second Amendment, doctors
should adopt a medical agenda and work to eliminate deadly, derelict
doctors."
Last week, Dr. Richard Corlin
sparked a huge controversy by adopting "gun safety" as his
platform when he was inaugurated as president of the American Medical
Association.
Citing "an epidemic of
handgun violence," Corlin demanded an increased firearms research
budget for the federal Centers for Disease Control, and more studies of
trigger locks and ways to reduce accidental shootings.
But Corlin failed to mention
that, according to studies, doctors kill three times as many Americans
each year as guns do, said Dasbach.
"According to a report by
the Institute of Medicine, 98,000 Americans are killed every year by
medical errors," he noted. "By contrast, 30,708 gun-related
deaths occurred in 1998 -- meaning incompetent doctors are more than three
times as deadly as guns."
The Institute's 1999 report
called the medical error rate "stunningly high" and cited
"horrific cases" of malpractice, such as a man who had the wrong
leg amputated by a sloppy surgeon.
"If Corlin is concerned
about saving lives, why isn't he campaigning to keep scalpels out of the
hands of slipshod surgeons?" asked Dasbach. "Or demanding
background checks for doctors, federal lawsuits against the medical
industry, or a 'cooling off' period to keep doctors who have just injured
a patient out of the operating room for a few days?"
Corlin's campaign against guns
also violates the Hippocratic Oath of "First Do No Harm,"
Dasbach pointed out.
"Americans use guns to
defend themselves 2.4 million times a year, according to the Gun Owners
Foundation," he said. "So Corlin's
anti-gun agenda could harm -- or even kill -- 2.4 million innocent
Americans every year. That's medical malpractice on a grand scale."
Corlin ought to consider how he
would react if the tables were turned, said Dasbach.
"Imagine the response from
doctors if the president of the National Rifle Association started
attacking an 'epidemic of operating room violence' -- and began
campaigning for more medical malpractice lawsuits," he said.
"Yet that's exactly what the AMA has been doing for
years. These physicians have been targeting guns instead of something
they actually have control over: Their incompetent colleagues who are
killing 98,000 of their own patients every year."
The fact is, gun violence isn't
a medical issue, it's a criminal issue, said Dasbach.
"People who use a gun to
commit a crime should be arrested and prosecuted -- which is the job of
the police, not doctors," he said. "Honest, peaceful gun owners
should be left alone by misguided doctors masquerading as politicians.
"In other words, doctors,
heal thyselves -- instead of wasting your time attacking an industry that
saves millions of lives every year."
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The Libertarian Party
http://www.lp.org/
2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite100 Washington DC
20037
voice: 202-333-0008
fax: 202-333-0072
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