In September 2015, AAPM&R endorsed the paper, Firearm-Related Injury and Death in the United States: A Call to Action from 8 Health Professional Organizations and the American Bar Association, for its stance on remediating intrusions on physician-patient relationships. Your Academy, along with many other medical societies and health care organizations, agreed with the paper’s recommendations to remove the communication restrictions so that physicians can speak freely with patients in a non-judgmental manner about firearms and advise them on the course of behaviors that promote health and safety.
In a follow-up to this endorsement, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is conducting a new campaign, in tandem with a recently-published article by Dr. Garen Wintermute, which encourages physicians to make a commitment to help reduce firearm-related violence by adding their name to an online form that will be posted at annals.org—ACP’s website.
Wintemute’s paper is a specific call-to-action for physicians to make a commitment that says, “When risk factors for harm to my patients or others are present, I will ask my patients about firearm ownership and safety.”
Interested physicians can access and add their name to the commitment page here.