Physicians this week agreed to support legislation that would ban the sale of tobacco products and/or byproducts in retail outlets housing store-based health clinics.
The American Medical Association wrapped up its policy-making meeting in Chicago this week, where member physicians defined the groups’ political and legislative agenda for the coming year.
If laws that support a no-tobacco policy as described above were enacted, stores such as Walgreens — which plans to open five retail health clinics here in Wichita by the end of the year — and other retail chains housing walk-in medical clinics (such as Target, Kroger and Wal-mart) would no longer be allowed to sell cigarettes to customers.
Ouch! I wonder how well that will sit with legislators and the tobacco and retail lobbies?
The association of physicians also voted to support many other legislative policies this year, including:
- Opposing the addition of flavors (such as vanilla, chocolate, mint and fruit that appeal to children) in cigarettes
- Protecting consumers from direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Doctors feel this should be supervised by a qualified health professional.
- Addressing the medical student debt burden. Upon graduation, the average medical student has a debt of $140,000, the association said, potentially hindering “bright students from considering medical careers,” AMA board member Chris DeRienzo said.