“We Are Anti-Bullet Holes in Our Patients,” Oregon Doctor Says in Online Battle Against the NRA

“We are not anti-gun,” Dr. Esther Choo tweeted, "we are anti-bullet holes in our patients.”

Aerial Tram to Oregon Health and Sciences University. (Christine Dong)
By Elise Herron

An Oregon Health and Sciences University doctor, Dr. Esther Choo, is at the center of a doctor-led campaign for gun control against the National Rifle Association.

Choo, an OHSU emergency doctor and assistant professor, last Thursday criticized an NRA tweet that took issue with American College of Physicians' new guidelines for doctors for protecting patients against gun violence.

The gun rights advocacy group called doctors "self important" and advised them to "stay in their lane," the Portland Business Journal first reported.

In response, Choo tweeted: "We are not self-important: we are important to the care of others. We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients."

The NRA's tweet last Wednesday came just hours before a gunman opened fire at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 12 people.

Choo's response has prompted a wave of doctors to share ER stories of gun violence under the hashtag "ThisisOurLane."

She tells WW via email that doctors "speaking out en masse was overdue."

"I felt like I put a tiny poke into an abscess that was at the bursting point," Choo says. "Once the doctors (and nurses, and physical therapists, and chaplains) got going, they couldn't stop. We see this tragedy day after day."

Here's what Choo and other physicians around the nation are sharing online:

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