HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinal Epidemic - doctors warn of nuclear war danger 1981 • • • • ,6 2.
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Doc tors warn of nuclear war danger
BOSTON (AP) — Appalled by talk about the tactics of recently resigned from Harvard Medical School to work
nuclear war, doctors are banding together to spread a full time as president of Physicians for Social Respon-
f sobering dose of realism about the scorched horror such a sibility.
o conflict would bring. "The medical profession is conservative," she said,
Their message: A nuclear attack on a U.S. city would be "but they see the imminence of nuclear war if the arms
the final epidemic, a medical catastrophe for which they race continues unabated, and it just seems to be the right '
have no cure. time now to start talking about it again."
Led by the elite of the American medical world, they Activists in this effort are careful to say that they are I
argue that preventing nuclear war is an issue of public not endorsing any particular treaty or plan, such as SALT I
health, not just politics and diplomacy. So far, their at- II, and they emphasize that disarmament must be un- S
tention has resulted in the rebirth of one ban - the -bomb dertaken by all nuclear powers, not the United States
doctors' group, the creation of another and a series of alone.
well- attended meetings across the country. One of the most active spokesmen for this new medical
"This is the greatest health hazard that humanity has awareness is Dr. Howard H. Hiatt, dean of the Harvard
ever faced," Dr. James E. Muller, a Harvard heart School of Public Health.
specialist who is one of the leaders of the movement, said "In letters that I've written to doctors, I've said that I'm 1
in a recent interview. not articulating a security policy," Hiatt said. "I don't 1
Suddenly, doctors are talking to their patients and each have any expertise in that sphere. But to the extent that
other about a subject that most people would rather our security policy is based on misconceptions concerning
forget. They are telling them that the gore, the burns and what doctors and hospitals can do in the event of a nuclear 1
"the suffering of a nuclear war would be far beyond the war, then it is our responsibility to speak out."
scope of doctors to practice their craft. Hiatt described just what doctors can expect in the C
The
began at meeting atHarvard last February. Now, even opening speech last February at a meeting sponsored by 11 those who spearheaded the drive say they are amazed at Harvard and Tufts on the medical consequences of Q
the reaction from usually conservative physicians. nuclear war.
Almost 3,000 doctors have joined an all- but - defunct anti- In a carefully subdued monotone, Hiatt outlined what
nuclear weapons group called Physicians for Social would happen if a 20- megaton bomb fell on Boston:
Responsibility. The trustees of the American Medical The shock waves, heat and radiation would spread a
Association voted to ask President -elect Ronald Reagan circle of death four miles into the suburbs. More than 90
for a meeting to discuss the issue. And Soviet and percent of the 3 million residents would die or require
American physicians have joined forces in a new immediate medical attention.
organization called International Physicians for the But only 650 doctors would be alive to treat them.
Prevention of Nuclear War. If all the doctors worked 16 hours a day, seven days a
"I think it started with Iran and then Afghanistan and week, it would take 26 days to see all the victims for about
then the Carter administration's approach to the situa- five minutes each.
tion...," said Dr. Helen M. Caldicott, a pediatrician who But all the hospitals would be flattened, too.