Firearms

After the World Health Organization’s much criticised delayed reaction to Ebola, the UN has sent in its big guns to tackle the outbreak. Nigel Hawkes and Sophie Arie report on the UN’s first emergency health mission  

Stream Firearms regulation and male suicide in Quebec by BMJ talk medicine from desktop or your mobile device  

A Long Island cardiologist offered oxycodone and blank prescription pads alongside guns and cash as payment for the killing of a rival cardiologist, prosecutors have alleged. Anthony Moschetto, 54, is also charged with paying for the arson of his rival’s office and may yet face additional weapons charges.  

Research done in an urban emergency department suggests this may be a prime location for efforts to intervene and stop the cycle of firearm violenceTwo young men in...  

A new study has found that nearly 1 in 10 adults in the US is anger-prone and has access to guns. The authors suggest changes to firearm legislation could reduce gun violence.  

Stream Firearms regulation and male suicide in Quebec by BMJ talk medicine from desktop or your mobile device  

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.  

If a picture is worth a thousand words, the value of a three-dimensional printout could be considerable. 3D printing is starting to disrupt the manufacturing industry, from jewellery to firearms, rapid prototyping to motor racing components. Inevitably, it has now reached healthcare.1 Last year Craig Gerrand, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, used computed tomography guided 3D printing to develop a titanium pelvis for a patient with chondrosarcoma.2 And doctors at University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital have implanted 3D printed plastic splints into the trachea of neonates to rectify tracheobronchomalacia.3  

A 2011 Florida gun law has been challenged for a third time. Some believe gun-safety discussions should be part of patient counseling, similar to asking about seatbelt use and smoking.  

On average, every day in the United States there are 31 homicides, 55 suicides, and two unintentional shooting deaths that involve guns, and children and teenagers are often the ones who are shot.  

A suggestion about guns prompts hundreds of often hostile comments from healthcare providers. Dr Lundberg asks: Is gun use addictive?  

The ACP joined the American Bar Association in endorsing a New York Times editorial calling for background checks, assault weapons control, physician-patient dialog, and firearms violence research.  

Frustrated by the lack of congressional action on gun control, President Barack Obama announced on 5 January a series of executive orders aimed at reducing gun violence in the United States. Each year firearms are responsible for about 84 000 non-fatal injuries in the US and about 33 000 deaths, of which about 11 000 are homicides and 21 000 are suicides.  

Injuries that kill people across the U.S. vary widely from one state to the next, with certain regions far exceeding the national average for fatalities tied to guns and cars, a recent study suggests.  

Only about half of suicidal patients seen in the emergency department are asked about access to guns and other lethal means of ending their lives.  

Although some physicians in the US believe it is against the law to ask patients about guns, they can and should ask about patients’ access and exposure to firearms, three violence prevention experts have said in an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine.1