Policy statement also physicians should be allowed to bring in their own PPE
Amid about reports about clinicians getting fired - or being threaten with being fired - if they speak out about the lack of personal protective equipment and other COVID-19 problems at their workplaces, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued a policy statement yesterday saying that physicians should be allowed to air their concerns and grievances.
“Physicians should not be at risk of having their employment terminated, or be otherwise disciplined, for speaking out in a professional manner, within their health care systems or publicly, on conditions and practices related to care of COVID-19 patients (including lack of personal protection equipment) that the physician has direct knowledge of and believes is in conflict with the health and safety of patients and clinicians,” the policy says.
There are several press accounts of firings. An emergency room physician in Washington state and a nurse in Chicago said they were fired for issues related to PPE. Bloomberg reported that the NYU Langone Health system put out a warning to employees not to talk to the media without authorization.
ACP, the professional association for internists, also said in the policy statement issued Wednesday that physicians should be allowed to bring their own their personal protection equipment (PPE) to work if the items are in short supply.
Reports of shortages of PPE are common. The federal government’s emergency stockpile of PPE is nearly depleted, government officials, including President Trump, acknowledged yesterday. “The stockpile was designed to respond to [a] handful of cities. It was never built or designed to fight a 50-state epidemic,” a Department of Homeland Security official was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.
The ACP policy statement says health care systems should work with physicians to improve care and patient safety.
“Physicians may appropriately decide that going public (including to the news media and on social media) with their concerns is their professional responsibility, to achieve needed change for the health and safety of patients and clinicians, both within the health care facility and more broadly,” the statements says.
Conversations with Perry and Friends: Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA
July 7th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the "Conversations with Perry and Friends" podcast. In this episode, Cohen speaks with Saar Mahna, J.D., MBA, CEO and founder of Banjo Health, an artificial intelligence company focused on prior authorization.
Listen
Dupixent Is Linked to a Higher Risk of Psoriasis in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis
July 8th 2025AD and psoriasis were once thought to be opposites in terms of immune response, with AD linked to a Th2-dominant pathway and psoriasis driven by Th17 inflammation. However, newer research has shown that these diseases can overlap in patients and may even share common pathways.
Read More
Conversations With Perry and Friends: Paul Fronstin, Ph.D.
May 9th 2025Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., a longtime member of the Managed Healthcare Executive editorial advisory board, is host of the Conversations with Perry and Friends podcast. In this episode, his guest is Paul Fronstin, Ph.D., director of health benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
Listen
Autoimmune Diseases Almost Double Mental Health Disorder Risk
July 7th 2025The prevalence of autoimmune disease patients with a mental health disorder is almost twice the number of patients without, suggesting there is a link between inflammation and conditions such as depression, anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder.
Read More