Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Doctors Who Treat Gunshot Victims Tell NRA Why Gun Safety Is Their 'Highway'
Los Angeles Times: #ThisIsOurLane: Doctors Tell The NRA Why They Are Experts On The Effects Of Gun Violence
It was the kind of imperious broadside that would strike fear into the hearts of most politicians. In a contemptuous tweet, the National Rifle Assn. admonished a medical group for speaking out about gun injuries and dismissed their concern by saying that physicians should mind their own business. “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane,” the NRA tweeted on Nov. 7. In drafting a policy statement that “reflects every anti-gunner’s public policy wish list,” the American College of Physicians “seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves,” the NRA complained. (Healy, 12/7)
CQ: No One Pulls Trigger On CDC Gun Studies
The omnibus spending law (P.L. 115-141) Congress passed in May opened the door to more government research into the causes of gun violence. Now, the director of emergency general surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore is calling on Congress to ensure new research begins. The Dickey Amendment named after former Arkansas GOP Rep. Jay Dickey has for more than two decades prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting research “used to advocate or promote gun control.” (Willis, 12/10)
The Hill: Unannounced Active Shooter Drill Sparks Chaos, Stampedes At Florida High School
Students and parents are outraged after an unannounced active-shooter drill resulted in chaos at a Florida high school. Video and images from inside Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs have gone viral after the incident. On Thursday morning, officials announced a “code red" over the school's intercom, saying that it was not a drill, according to BuzzFeed News. (Anapol, 12/9)
The Associated Press: Newtown Shooter Described 'Scorn For Humanity'
Documents from the investigation into the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut are shedding light on the gunman's anger, scorn for other people, and deep social isolation in the years leading up to the shooting. The documents that a court ordered Connecticut State Police to release include several writings by Adam Lanza, who gunned down 20 children and six educators on Dec. 14, 2012. He fatally shot his mother before driving to the school and ultimately killed himself. (12/9)
