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CHICAGO -- Hospitals and other healthcare facilities should limit guns and Tasers in units that house patients with mental illnesses, the American Medical Association said.
The resolution approved Monday by the AMA's House of Delegates originally asked that the AMA advocate for guns and Tasers -- referred to by the AMA as "conducted electrical weapons" -- to be restricted from such units, but the reference committee considering the resolution changed "restricted" to "limited."
The association's Minority Affairs Section introduced the resolution, which was the subject of much discussion at the committee meeting on Sunday. , an American Academy of Pediatrics delegate from Fort Worth, Texas, was one of the physicians who spoke in favor of changing the wording. She described an incident in which a father who was upset with the hospital's treatment of his 4-day-old baby said he would "go to the car to get my gun to take care of this problem."
"I live in Texas -- you know he had a gun in his car," said Garretson, speaking for herself; she added that security did not allow him back onto the premises. "Tell me I can't have anything to protect our staff and ourselves, and I'm in trouble," she said.
On the other side, , an orthopedic surgery resident in New York City, said that his brother, who is mentally ill, voluntarily presented at a hospital in Houston last August seeking attention. After he was admitted and became disoriented, "the nurse called for security ... the officers entered room, Tased him, and shot him in the chest, inside his hospital room" even though he was naked and had no weapon on him, Pean said. "They handcuffed him as he was unconscious and threw a drape over his body ... a code was called."
"We don't want for this resolution to limit or hinder the ability of personnel to respond to these kinds of incidents, but we have to keep in mind what policies in place currently do when it comes to limiting access to the most vulnerable patients -- patients like my brother," said Pean.
The committee also deleted part of the resolution which sought to have the AMA advocate for increased resources and broader efforts to work with organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Health to raise awareness and de-stigmatize mental illness among minority communities.
The House of Delegates also:
- Adopted a resolution opposing any efforts to weaken FDA's regulation of tobacco products.
- Referred to the AMA's Board of Trustees a resolution calling for the association's support of efforts to limit the consumption of foods and beverages that contain added sweeteners, "including ... ending corn subsidies for the production of high-fructose corn syrup." "Current AMA policy recognizes there is insufficient evidence to recommend restricting the use of high-fructose corn syrup and other fructose-containing sweeteners," the committee said in its report to the House of Delegates. "The [AMA's] Council on Science and Public Health is working on a related report for [the 2016 interim meeting] and asked that this item be referred to allow for a review of the available scientific evidence."
- Approved a report recommending that the AMA encourage school districts to delay school start times to to accommodate the biologic sleep needs of adolescents.
- Adopted a resolution urging Congress to increase funding for research on, treatment of, and prevention of the Zika virus.
The House of Delegates meeting continues through Wednesday.