CHICAGO -- The American Medical Association is being asked to strengthen its ethical stance on physician participation in execution by extending its ban on doctors participating to include all health professionals.
The AMA, which convenes its annual House of Delegates meeting here on Saturday, was asked to take up the execution issue by the American Association of Public Health Physicians (AAPHP), which is calling for a moratorium on the "medicalization" of capital punishment.
In the wake of Oklahoma's botched execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett, , author of the resolution, told 51˶, "The AMA can bring moral suasion in this area."
Weisbuch said that as a body that speaks for life and health, the AMA has the potential to play a powerful role in separating the medical community from executions.
The issue will be debated in the AMA's reference committee on constitution and bylaws, which begins it deliberations on Sunday.
The AMA is also being asked to consider a late-resolution addressing the ongoing scandal at the Veterans Administration to back veterans' access to immediate full health coverage outside the VA if the problems at the VA are not quickly resolved. But Florida, which submitted this resolution, did not make the deadline for resolution submission so the AMA's full house will need to first approve the VA measure before it can be debated.
Maintenance of Certification or MOC has been a hot topic at medical specialty societies all year, and it is also likely to engender heated debate at the AMA, which will tackle no fewer than four resolutions (from members in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Florida) all slamming the MOC process.
E-cigarettes, which have been the focus of several recent studies, are also on the agenda and will be debated at the AMA's public health reference committee.
The American College of Rheumatology and the Oklahoma caucus wrote resolutions concerning the release of Medicare claims data and physician payment information. Both resolutions address the lack of clarity and potential for misinterpretation by the nonmedical public.
Both Illinois and the New England caucuses have proposed resolutions for legislation requiring criminal background checks and licensing for firearm purchases and transfers of ownership.
Scope of practice for gynecologists to be included in the primary care design and treatment of male patients will also be heard in the House of Delegates this year.
An updated report from the Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) will inform attendees on national drug shortages.
President-elect, Robert Wah, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist and ob-gyn at Walter Reed National Military Center and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., will be inaugurated Tuesday, and the delegates will head home on Wednesday.