Frustrated Trauma Surgeons Beginning To Speak Out Against Gun Violence
“In the past, physicians have been reluctant to jump into the fray. Even after Sandy Hook there was a reluctance to take a public stand,” said Dr. David Spain, chief of trauma surgery at Stanford Health Care. “But people are getting too frustrated and too tired. We are starting to voice our outrage. And we’re still not as vocal as we should be.”
San Francisco Chronicle:
Growing Voice Against Gun Violence: Trauma Surgeons
Less than two hours after Tuesday’s shooting rampage at YouTube’s San Bruno campus left three people wounded and the shooter dead, Dr. Andre Campbell walked out of the emergency room at San Francisco General Hospital, looking weary and ill-tempered. The shooting victims, a man and two women, had arrived at his hospital, the closest trauma center, within an hour of the attack. (Allday, 4/4)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
This Retinal Implant May One Day Cure Blindness Caused By Macular Degeneration
For many of the 10 million Americans who are losing their vision to a thievish eye condition with no treatment, help may be on its way. In a very early clinical trial, researchers have implanted a stem cell "patch" to repair failing retinal cells in four patients with a condition called "dry" macular degeneration. Three of the four patients who got the bioengineered implant — all of whom had lost their central field of vision and were legally blind — reported some lightening in the previously dark center of their visual field, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The three also saw some improvement in their ability to see shapes and focus on letters or other objects directly in front of them. (Healy, 4/4)