ER Docs Commonly Encounter Suspected Police Brutality

A survey of 315 emergency room physicians, contained in the Emergency Medicine Journal's January issue and based on 2002 data, indicates that nearly 98% of emergency room physicians believe some patients were victims of suspected excessive force by police. However, most of the suspected incidents went unreported because no laws require physicians to alert authorities. The survey is believed to be the first doctors' account of suspected police brutality, according to H. Range Hutson, the lead author and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard. Read more.