Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2004
Keywords
Mandatory Reporting, Gunshot Wounds, Confidentiality, Commentary, Gun Violence, Policy Critique
Abstract
A recent position statement by the Ontario Medical Association’s Section on Emergency Medicine called on the Ontario government to pass a law requiring physicians to report gunshot wounds to police. The Ontario government quickly passed a motion to “introduce legislation to require hospitals and physicians to report gunshot wounds and knife injuries to their local police service.” The goals behind the position statement are laudable: “to assess and reduce immediate public risk and to collect data to inform future prevention strategies.” However, mandating that physicians report gunshot wounds is an ill-conceived response to the problem of gun-related violence. It will produce little benefit and cause significant harm.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
"Shooting Ourselves in the Foot: Why Mandatory Reporting of Gunshot Wounds is a Bad Idea" (2004) 170:8 CMAJ 1255.
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Commons
