Letters: Taking the Lead on Safety

After the incident attention was turned to who was to blame. Members of the community pointed fingers at law enforcement, yet no one from the legal profession, despite my earlier warnings took responsibility for their role nor sought to provide a forum for further exploration of this case. Unfortunately, I suspect there are many other cases like it to come.

I’ve spent a number of years thinking about this experience. In similar situations, one solution might be for everyone to collectively acknowledge the problem, and provide social and mental health services and court-ordered law enforcement intervention. As physicians committed to patient health and welfare, we clearly need to take the lead in defining these matters, as it’s certain the legal profession has very little vested interest in doing so, even though their own may be at risk. As evidenced by recent and past events, we most certainly are.

—Howard S. Kotler, MD, FACS
Clinical Assistant Professor.
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and
Neck Surgery University of Illinois,
Chicago College of Medicine