Radiologist takes action after NRA tweets doctors 'to stay in their lane' on gun control
A tweet posted Wednesday, Nov. 7 by the National Rifle Association (NRA) telling doctors who have entered the gun control debate “to stay in their lane” has sparked outrage amongst U.S. physicians and medical professionals who have since taken to Twitter to express their discord, according to a recent report by The Washington Post.
The NRA tweet was crafted in response to a position paper from the American College of Physicians published Oct. 30 by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, according to the article. The paper, titled “Reducing Firearm Injuries and Deaths in the United States,” recommended a public attempt to prevent firearm injuries, deaths. It also argued medical professionals have a “special responsibility” to speak out about the prevention of such and to support “appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal firearms," authors wrote in the paper.
Radiologist Heather Sher, MD, a diagnostic radiologist in Pennsylvania who gained national attention after publishing an article in February about the damage she witnessed caused by high-velocity bullets from a semiautomatic rifle after the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., shared her thoughts about the NRA’s tweet with The Post.
“It is not an ‘us versus them,’ issue,” Sher emailed The Post. “What we are truly asking for is a coming together of both sides to find a solution to this national health problem.”
Sher also took to Twitter Monday responing to the NRA’s post, stating “doctors are acting altruistically in protecting patients and their communities. Not a great target for animosity. We took an oath...#ThisISOurLane."
On the evening the NRA made its initial tweet, Sher and fellow colleagues published a letter urging for more research into death by gun violence, inviting the NRA to join their efforts. In two days, more than 23,000 doctors and medical professionals signed the letter, according to the article.
Read the Washington Post's entire article below.
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.