@ Zane: I actually am mulling over writing a letter. To me, it's not so much that I disagree with them, it's really the fact that, as you say, they threw EBM out of the window, in a time where all medicine that is currently practiced needs to have solid scientific data behind it. And really, the complete disregard for facts is quite appalling in a medical journal. Just because the subject is loosely related to epidemiology, doesn't mean that they can ignore data and forego comparative analyses to try to measure the efficacy of gun-control. The whole article is based on a false epidemiological supposition which was never adequately proven by the authors, or even the authors of the previous studies.
One of the major things stopping me from writing a letter is the fact that I am studying for the USMLE Step 1 right now, so I have extremely limited time. Maybe if I just write a little bit each study break....
@ Chris: I am sorry you had to see that. As a medical student, my exposure to gun-violence has been limited solely to the aftermath of gang-shootings, where the "victim" has a GSW with blatant powder burns and speckling, and yet he "didn't see nothing" and has no idea who shot him. I also know that the loans stink. On the other hand, one of the worst things I've seen while in the ED/Trauma bay was a mother whose child drowned in the pool, but was still barely alive. She was hysterical, and there were LEOs all over the place just waiting for the kid to die, so they could charge her with negligent homicide. Through some stroke of luck the child survived, and ultimately the docs determined that it really wasn't negligence on the mother's behalf - the child had opened a locked gate to get to the pool.
I've been doing my best to minimize my loans, but it's hard. Some of my favorite docs to interact with have been trauma surgeons. They're a really great group at my hospital, some of which are military vets with incredible stories. I'm sure you'll have your loans paid off eventually, that's what all my attendings tell us, anyway!
@The Doctors=Bad crowd: I understand that lately modern medicine gets a bad rap, and it's especially upsetting to see doctors' groups lobbying for socialist agendas as of late. But keep in mind that doctors try to do everything right. No doctor ever wakes up and says to himself, "You know what? I'm not going to wash my hands today, because I really feel like spreading some MRSA around." Malpractice is also ridiculously overblown - take John Edwards for example. He made a fortune suing OB/GYNs, using flimsy evidence to claim that they induced brain damage in premature babies. Science later vindicated these docs and showed Edwards' evidence, which the juries lapped up, to be bunk and void - the brain-damage was simply unavoidable in children born that premature, and the doctors actually saved the children's lives by doing what they had done. These cases are still used to inflate malpractice rates, in spite of the evidence. Of course, their practices were ruined by an overzealous attorney and a public cynical of the medical profession, when in reality, all they were trying to do was save some lives. That's hardly just from where I sit, and is something to think about next time you start spouting off the inane "Doctors are Barney Fifes with scalpels!" nonsense. Every doc I have worked with has embodied professionalism, and does their absolute best to treat the patient in front of them, no matter how tired or irritated they may be, even if the patient is obnoxious beyond belief.
Finally, to steer this back on topic, the AMA is constantly trying to get me to join, but each time, I just throw away their letter. They've strayed from advocating for physicians and healthcare, and tend to advocate, as I said earlier, a fairly socialistic agenda under the guise of advancing healthcare these days. They are constantly pushing for more affirmative action, gun control, heavy taxation of various foodstuffs, and other policies that the Left holds dear. I wish there were some counter-physicians' organizations that would just promote greater medical knowledge and healthcare, while still remaining amicable to the various freedoms enjoyed in this country, and working within this system, as opposed to trying to find a way to legislate them away.
I truly believe that physicians need to advocate firearms safety and responsible gun ownership for those who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights - not restrictive gun-control. Unfortunately, all I have heard from the medical "establishment" has been pro-gun control. One of the first things we were taught in school was to ask if our patients owned guns, and to chastise them for doing so, and encourage them to get rid of the gun. When I asked to know the medical evidence behind this, we were shown the heavily flawed, and thoroughly debunked Kellerman study. Thankfully, it seems to just be the academics that care about this, the private practice physicians scoff at the notion of asking patients about firearms.