American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians (ACOP)

May 1st marked the official kickoff of Asian-American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. While we join with our AAPI colleagues, patients, and families, in celebration of their vibrant culture and vast contributions to our society, we cannot ignore the continued increase in hate-related violence that has been brought upon this community in recent years. The AAPI community has faced institutional racism for years, however this has dramatically increased over the past year during the COVID-19 crisis.

According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, in 2020 the overall hate crime rate decreased by 7%, but at the same time hate crimes focused at AAPI people increased by 149%. Fueled by fear and hateful rhetoric broadcast by some people in positions of great influence, members of this community have faced and continue to face unfathomable threats to their homes, schools, community spaces, places of worship, business, and lives..

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According to a Williams Institute report¹, as of February 2020 there were 8 states either introducing or considering legislation that would limit access to gender affirming health care to American transgender youths, some going as far as to referring parents to child welfare services if they are found to have been supporting such care for their child. The number of states considering these harmful laws increased, and the first of such laws reached the Governor’s desk in the state of Arkansas.

After a moment of hope during which Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson vetoed the bill calling it a “vast overreach of politicians” and a direct response to a culture war, both chambers of the Arkansas legislature voted overwhelmingly to override this veto and force the Saving Adolescents From Experimentation Act (SAFE Act)² into state law. This act now makes it illegal for physicians to provide gender affirming care or to refer patients to other providers for gender affirming care for any individual less than 18 years of age. It also bans the use of any public funds for such care and does not allow any medical care that can be determined to be gender affirming care to be reimbursed through state programs..

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We recently celebrated our annual gathering of osteopathic physicians and students at OMED 2020 this month, though this year it was unfortunately held virtually; it is hard to ignore the recent resurgence of DO’s in the national media. Unfortunately, this notice has been both negative and ill-informed.  On October 5^th, in response to the poorly executed health updates on President Trump regarding his health status following his positive COVID-19 diagnosis, many media networks opted to diminish the credentials of the current Physician to the President, Dr. Sean Conley, DO. Statements were made discounting his ability to manage Mr. Trump’s illness based only on the fact that he is an “osteopath” and not an infectious disease specialist. Many media figures limited Dr. Conley’s ability to “only osteopathy,” ignoring the contributions we as a profession make to the greater field of medicine. While in fact, Dr. Conley is a graduate of the highly-esteemed Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his Emergency Medicine residency at the Naval Medical Hospital Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia during which time he was very highly regarded. While not an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Conley’s credentials and education more than justify his placement in this prestigious role. The members of the American College of Osteopathic Pediatrician (ACOP) stand along with Dr. Conley and the rest of the Osteopathic Medicine community as we continue our quest to be viewed as equals with our allopathic counterparts.

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The American College of Osteopathic Pediatricians are mindful of the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, and express our support for ending the longstanding injustices faced by Blacks in our country. We recognize that our under-represented minority patients, families, pediatricians, and trainees suffer microaggressions and racism that may have gone unnoticed or unacknowledged.  We pledge to encourage, support, and provide training for our members to learn how to address these aggressions and treat our patients who suffer from related adverse childhood events.

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In 2000 the CDC officially declared that the highly contagious measles virus had been eliminated in the United States.  This was made possible in large part to an aggressive vaccination campaign and increasing advocacy and education by healthcare workers. In recent years, however, we have begun to see an increase in cases returning throughout the country.  While many of these cases can be traced to the virus entering the US via infected travelers from countries that do not offer routine measles vaccination, the increasing “anti-vax” movement, whether due to religious, medical, or moral objection, has also led to the creation of measles hot spots throughout the country.  We are currently facing such an outbreak as the CDC has already reported 349 documented cases of measles as of February 2019, almost as many cases as were reported in the entire year of 2016, with new cases continuing to be reported weekly.  These cases have been primarily located in pockets of Washington State, New York City and areas in upstate New York.

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