Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

7-4-2013

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 illconceived response to the problem of gunrelated violence It will produce little benefit and cause significant harm

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