[Editor's note: E. John Wipfler, III, MD, FACEP is Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. A major (ret.) in the Army Reserves and expert in tactical emergency medicine, Dr. Wipfler serves as a Sheriff’s Physician.] The terrible mass murder by radicalized terrorists in San Bernardino was a jarring blow to the denial of many Americans.  This style of attack is not new. As we console the survivors’ families, as we mourn the lives lost, we ...

In less than three weeks, we’ve seen two of the more horrible radical jihadist attacks yet, of different sorts. In Paris on November 13, we saw an ISIS-directed and organized mass assault on innocent citizens of a European country that has been as welcoming of Muslim immigration as any in the West. On December 2 in San Bernardino, just two radicalized Muslim immigrants unleashed murder on supposed friends and colleagues at what was a happy employee Christmas party until that moment. (more&he...

I’m in favor of discussing firearms with anyone.  That's what we do here at DRGO. But should doctors advise patients about guns?   The answer depends on one’s perspective—and what that discussion entails. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association say “Yes” but define “safe gun use” as “Never”. Florida’s Firearms Owners’ Privacy Act of 2011 says “No” in order to prevent anti-gun doctors from inappropriately influencing patients. The American Medical Asso...

[Editor's Note: The following article was published by The Hill in response to the November 20, 2015 story Dems push to end ban on gun violence research and is republished here with permission.] History is not always written by the victors. In a Friday letter to the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, House Democrats urged repeal of the 1996 ban on funding for gun control advocacy at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  But n...

On this most American of holidays, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership wishes all our members, followers, fans, readers and opponents a joyful day spent with family and dear friends with whom you may savor your bounty, peace and freedoms this country offers. We won't urge you to proselytize or politicize, as some have suggested, but should the conversation turn in that direction, DRGO has plenty of resources to help you make your point. Happy Thanksgiving!

One billion times a year, you trust us with your general health.  You trust us to care for you, your family and friends 168 million days a year in hospitals across this great nation.  You even trust us to care for your children in 6.3 million hospital stays per year. Yes, the general public, we as Americans, trust our doctors and other health care workers with our lives, every day.  Wouldn’t we then trust those same doctors to defend against deadly violence in a hospital?  Yet the vast ma...

  Bully (verb): “use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants.” [Google] Sadism (noun): “the act of gaining pleasure from inflicting physical or psychological pain on another.” [Medical Dictionary]   (more…)

[Editor's Note: Originally published on KevinMD.com on October 24, 2015 and republished here with the author's permission.]  One word: gun. That is all it takes to spark a debate between two very different camps. One end of the spectrum feels guns are an evil haunting the nation by their mere existence, and they need to be dealt with by restricting (or even eliminating) everyone’s ability to possess them. The other end believes it is a core right to keep and use firearms for sport, person...