AMA has information you need to fight bioterrorism

AMA Leader Commentary. By Timothy T. Flaherty, MD. Dec. 3, 2001.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from Timothy T. Flaherty, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Last month, I stood alongside Sen. Bill Frist, MD (R, Tenn.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, Mass.) in Washington, D.C. -- steps away from the Hart Senate Office Building, which had been cordoned off due to anthrax contamination. I was there to pledge the AMA's commitment to the war on terrorism, specifically bioterrorism, and to let physicians know that, in a battle where education is our most important means of defense, the AMA is making the best information available -- in a variety of ways.

Never before in my experience have physicians been so hungry for credible, timely material about a threat to the public health. And never before in my experience has the AMA dedicated so much time and effort to reaching out to physicians about a potential public health crisis.

Most recently, we shifted the agenda of our December Interim Meeting. As I write this column, we are in final stages of planning. By the time you read these lines, experts from around the country will have led clinical sessions on biological and chemical weapons, and informational seminars on community and hospital planning, as well as sessions on coping with the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

In the meantime, the specialty societies, the armed forces and the Dept. of Health and Human Services have provided educational materials for a 24-hour resource room. The AMA has contributed its own information packet, using both print materials and a CD-ROM. We expect that our delegates will take these materials back home to thousands of colleagues in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Even for those who do not attend the AMA's Interim Meeting, new and updated information continues to be available, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thanks to our "disaster response" Web site (http://www.ama-assn.org/go/disasterpreparedness). In addition to using this site to access the latest clinical information or to look up local public health officials, physicians can also use it to view two broadcasts which we co-sponsored in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Anthrax: What Every Physician Should Know" and "Coping with Bioterrorism: How are Laboratories Responding." For those who lack the technology to watch these broadcasts online, we've also made them available on videotape, free to individual physicians. To order a copy, call (877) 252-1200, or make your request at the Web site of the Public Health Foundation (http://www.phf.org/).

Finally, the Journal of the American Medical Association continues to keep physicians on the forefront of care, most recently through its Nov. 28 theme issue on bioterrorism. JAMA released several articles from this issue several weeks before publication, so that physicians would have access to the most up-to-the-minute information about anthrax. These articles, as well as others from JAMA and the Archives journals, are available through the AMA disaster response Web site.

What I have described is just the beginning of an ongoing AMA effort. Even if the anthrax scares of October fade from the headlines, the threat of bioterrorism will not fade from the AMA's consciousness. We understood the danger of a biological threat long before the first envelope of suspicious white powder arrived in Florida, and recent events have only further convinced us that we have an obligation to stay focused on this issue.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be expanding and strengthening our initiatives related to biological and chemical warfare. These efforts will range from public service announcements on local television stations to active lobbying in Congress. Most important, however, we will continue -- alongside state, county, and specialty societies -- to focus our efforts on physician education and information. Though we hope that our country will never face a biological assault, the fact remains that we must be ready for one. And, for now, education is still the foundation of physician preparedness.

The world has indeed changed since Sept. 11 -- and it will continue to change. As I stood last month in the Capitol, listening to Sens. Frist and Kennedy describe the nation's pressing need to better prepare, at every level, for a biological attack, I thought once again about what this might mean -- to my patients, to my colleagues and to my family. For a moment, I felt deeply saddened to live in a world where some person or group might try to destroy what I and so many other physicians have dedicated our lives to: human health.

And yet, upon further reflection, it occurred to me that there are still so many reasons for optimism and hope. Though we live with the possibility that terrorists may use biological force against us, we -- like all Americans -- continue to live out our day-to-day professional lives. We are still out there, providing quality care -- even as the environment around us rapidly changes. And physician organizations are still at the helm, making sure colleagues stay in the most current information loop.

And right out in front is your AMA, as determined as ever to play a leading role in ensuring our nation's health and security -- in this case, by providing physicians with the best information available.

Knowing all this helps me sleep just a little more soundly at night. I hope it helps you as well.

Dr. Flaherty, a board certified radiologist from Neenah, Wis., was AMA board chair during 2001-02.