As physicians, we are often on the front lines of tragedies such as those in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas recently and in Florida in June. During these troubling times and two contentious national conventions, we are beginning to wonder what changes are in store for our profession and our patients.
As first responders, we are intimately aware of what our patients endure after being victims of violence, after witnessing violence or struggling through the stressors of living in communities that are under-resourced, oversurveilled and overcriminalized. We also believe that, as a group, doctors have a responsibility and the collective power to stand united in support of reforms that affect the overall physical, mental and behavioral health of our patients.
Physicians for Criminal Justice Reform Inc. (PfCRJ) was established in May 2015 to advocate for reforms that eliminate the damaging health consequences that can result from negative interactions with the criminal justice system. Through our medical practice, we have all seen the myriad ways criminal justice system involvement leads to detrimental health outcomes. This is especially true for one of our most vulnerable patient populations — adolescents.
[For more of this story, written by Osvaldo Gaytan, Nzinga A. Harrison and Edjah Nduom, go to http://jjie.org/will-president...en-as-adults/285044/]
Comments (0)