-Caveat Lector- http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=16311&arc=n AMA push will target gun lobby Medical group's research agenda will anger some members, NRA April 30, 2001 By Sarah A. Klein The American Medical Assn. is taking aim at the National Rifle Assn. in a campaign that will also pit factions within the influential physicians group against one another. At its annual meeting on June 20, the Chicago-based American Medical Assn. (AMA) will call for massive increases in funding for research on firearms injuries. The Fairfax, Va.-based National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has long opposed such initiatives, saying the science is thinly veiled anti-gun propaganda. The NRA's last attempt to block such research � urging Congress to cut funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) � sparked a nationwide debate, and ultimately weakened the federal agency's research. The AMA's plan, which is the brainchild of President-elect Richard F. Corlin, revives the fight � and promises to be as controversial within the organization as it is outside. Among the medical group's 290,357 members are representatives of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws, an Internet-based group that worked alongside the NRA to defeat the CDC's effort to document the scope and extent of gun violence. Dr. Corlin, who will be sworn in as president at the June meeting, says he is not expanding AMA policy or advocating gun control. "We are doing what we have always done, and that is advocate on a variety of issues (that are part of ) our mission statement, which is the advancement of science and med-icine and the betterment of public health. We did it with polio. We did it with tobacco. We did it with AIDS awareness and health insurance, and any other issue that we think is a public health epidemic," Dr. Corlin says. He would not comment on the specifics of his campaign, but sources say the AMA will encourage the collection of data on the number and type of gun-related injuries nationwide to give policymakers a basis for decision-making. The group has not decided whether to pursue funding from the government or foundations, or who will conduct the work. 'Social planners' The CDC, since a 1995 congressional battle over funding, has limited its collection of data to the total number of deaths by firearms and to demographic information such as the age, race and sex of victims. Public health advocates and gun control lobbyists want more information, including the type of gun used, the circumstances that led to the injuries and nature of the wounds � details similar to those collected by the government on automobile accidents. "We don't have that kind of information about gun injuries. It makes it difficult to develop policies," says Robert Seltzer, executive director of New York-based Doctors Against Handgun Injury, a consortium of medical groups. "If we knew more about the relationship between the victim and the suspect (for instance), we could develop policing strategies." Physicians groups that support the right to bear arms aren't likely to stand for such research. Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws and the Claremont, Calif.-based Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, are already angry at an AMA recommendation that physicians ask patients about gun ownership during office visits. "They are not scientists; these are social planners," says John A. Bennett, an AMA member and a member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws, referring to the doctors who undertake research on firearms issues. Dr. Bennett, a Sequim, Wash.-based family-practice physician who occasionally attends medical society meetings at the local shooting range, says that while he is skeptical of Dr. Corlin's objectivity, he'll reserve judgment. "I am free to quit," he says. Michael Brown, a Vancouver, Wash., optometrist who also is a member of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws, is warier. "There is so much potential for misusing the data for political purposes. We have very little faith they would deal with it honestly," says Mr. Brown, who sees the issue as a city vs. country fight. "The doctors that go into medical politics like this are almost always the urban liberal-type folks." The dissension reportedly extends into the AMA's boardroom, where, one source says, "there wasn't unanimity." Explains Susan Adelman, a Southfield, Mich.-based pediatric surgeon and AMA trustee: "There was worry that the position would be misinterpreted. Dr. Corlin is trying to walk a very careful line. He is trying to take a mature position within AMA policy, to gather information that allows players to formulate proposals." Better for business News of the AMA's upcoming involvement in the gun violence issue has been well received by gun control advocates in Chicago, where 628 people died from firearms injuries in 1998, the last year for which statistics were available from the federal government. The AMA initiative is "really great. Physicians have a certain credibility," says Gary Slutkin, a physician and executive director of the Chicago Project for Violence Prevention, which is teaming up with some of the Chicago area's largest businesses, including Northern Trust Corp., Dominick's Finer Foods and Deloitte Consulting LLC, to halt gun violence. The business community realizes that "the better our statistics are, the more likely we are to attract, but also to retain, businesses," says Peggy Luce, vice-president of education and workforce issues at the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Few seem to doubt that the efforts of Dr. Corlin, a 60-year-old Santa Monica, Calif., gastroenterologist, will make a difference in the debate. Says Ronald Bangasser, a Redlands, Calif. physician who has known Dr. Corlin for more than 20 years: "When he steps up to the plate and takes a swing, he intends to hit a home run." �2001 by Crain Communications Inc. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! 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