Statement attributable to:
Omar T. Atiq, MD, FACP
President, ACP
WASHINGTON July 12, 2023 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) is distressed and alarmed by the recent shooting of a physician inside a clinic in Collierville, Tennessee. Physicians all too often come face-to-face with the tragedy of the gun violence epidemic and in this case, become the target. As recently as May, there was a shooting in a medical facility in Atlanta, which reminds us that with every tragedy in a place of healing reinforces that physicians, and our other colleagues in medical facilities deserve to feel safe when performing their jobs.
ACP has clear policy on Promoting Policy Standards for Workplace Violence Prevention and Management. In that policy, ACP recognizes the harm of workplace violence against physicians and other health care workers—including physical and verbal violence and believes physicians and other health care workers have a right to deliver care under conditions that do not impair their health and well-being. ACP believes institutions have a duty to ensure the safety of their employees and must develop and implement policies, plans, and protocols to assess, report, reduce, and prevent workplace hazards and violence.
The rate of injuries and deaths related to firearms and the growing incidence of mass shootings brings to light, once again, the glaring insufficiency of firearm policy in the U.S. While details are still emerging, this tragedy once again sheds a light on the epidemic of gun violence.
While we have recently begun to make some progress in enacting policies to prevent firearms-related injuries and deaths, much more needs to be done. Until that happens the safety of our patients, our families and our communities are all under threat. That is why ACP has called for common sense policies to tackle the public health crisis of firearms-related deaths and injuries for nearly 30 years. It is time for all who share our commitment to preventing avoidable deaths and injuries from firearms to come together to take action to help prevent future tragedies.
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About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 160,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact: Laura Baldwin, (215) 351-2668, lbaldwin@acponline.org