Cardiac surgeon shot at Boston hospital dies
Source: Faux News-AP
A prominent cardiac surgeon at a leading Boston hospital died late Tuesday from injuries sustained when he was shot by a patient who later turned the gun on himself.
Brigham and Women's Hospital confirmed in a statement that Dr. Michael J. Davidson, 44, had succumbed to his injuries after undergoing surgery.
"Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for," a statement from the hospital read, in part. "It is truly devastating that his own life was taken in this horrible manner."
Authorities say Stephen Pasceri, 55, entered Brigham and Women's Hospital sometime before 11 a.m. and specifically requested to see Dr. Davidson. Pasceri then shot the doctor twice just outside an examination room on the second floor of the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center before taking his own life, police said.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/21/1-shot-suspect-in-custody-at-boston-hospital/
C Moon
(12,212 posts)JI7
(89,248 posts)Hassin Bin Sober
(26,325 posts)The station reported late Tuesday, citing multiple sources, that Davidson had treated Pasceri's mother, who had recently died.
countmyvote4real
(4,023 posts)Or vote while under distress. The shooter was obviously in a lot of distress having just lost his mother. It seems crazy to me that two more lives should be lost, including the shooter. Unfortunately, this brings us back to a subject this country does not care to address: guns and gun control. Guns are used to kill people much more than recreational hunting or actual foraging for food. Gun deaths make no sense if we just had the sense to regulate their sales better. Cars and drivers are far more regulated.
hack89
(39,171 posts)Massachusetts has some the strictest gun laws in the country. You cannot even buy a gun without the police first deciding you are worthy of a firearms ID card.
Darb
(2,807 posts)Gun humpers in the militia....oh wait, there is no militia.
hack89
(39,171 posts)perhaps you should read the Democratic party platform on what they have to say about the 2A.
That doctor was killed in a state that said "fuck you" to the gun humpers and enacted some of the strictest gun laws in America. Perhaps you should tell us what additional laws were needed to stop this crime.
liberalla
(9,243 posts)Snow Leopard
(348 posts)Guns are used waaaaay more for hunting than killing people
Ed Suspicious
(8,879 posts)hand guns are purchased to be used vs people than vs game animals.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Doctors can't save everyone, no matter how great they are. I weep for this man, his family, and many people who could have been saved by him and now won't be....
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Everybody is going to die, sooner or later. Including everybody reading this. And their mothers.
Pasceri was 55, so his mother was probably about 80. Not unusually to die at an advanced age. And as you wrote, doctors can't save everybody.
I'm surprised it happens as much as it does.
liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)and when they're in a rational frame of mind. But grief and loss can do some strange things to people and allow emotions to take over.
I remember when my best friend of thirty years died solely due to an egregious case of medical malpractice and she suffered horribly for months before finally succumbing. I had such anger against the doctor responsible (who fought the malpractice suit despite the strong evidence against her of her gross incompetence in the matter and finally ended up settling when it was clear she wasn't going to win) and the tremendous suffering it caused my friend for months that I imagined all kinds of nasty things happening to her. Had I been in any way a gun person (I hate them and don't even like to look at them) or prone to violence in any way (which I also hate), the anger and emotions might just have taken over. I know her parents and siblings (she was single and childless) felt the same way. And, in that case, we were justified in feeling it, but we certainly would not have been in acting upon it, of course.
It sounds like this shooter was in the grip of the kind of rage and anger that grief often causes and saw the poor doctor as the cause of it, instead of trying to understand that the doctor did his best and his mother was elderly and it was her time. I've known people in the medical field (I love my own doctor) and I'm married to an attorney and once worked in the legal field. This kind of thing with patients and clients happens WAY more than people would think or be comfortable thinking. For attorneys, it's especially true in family and domestic relations law, where emotions are likely to be volatile in many cases.
Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 02:24 PM - Edit history (1)
I have friends who work at Brigham and Women's. Dr. Davidson did very sophisticated, high risk valve surgeries. Although he was a well regarded expert in this arena he had failed surgeries and he also declined to operate on patients who wouldn't make it through the procedure. Chances are the shooter's mother was in one of those categories and the shooter blamed the doctor for her death.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)very sad.
Sancho
(9,067 posts)People Control, Not Gun Control
This is my generic response to gun threads where people are shot and killed by the dumb or criminal possession of guns. For the record, I grew up in the South and on military bases. I was taught about firearms as a child, and I grew up hunting, was a member of the NRA, and I still own guns. In the 70s, I dropped out of the NRA because they become more radical and less interested in safety and training. Some personal experiences where people I know were involved in shootings caused me to realize that anyone could obtain and posses a gun no matter how illogical it was for them to have a gun. Also, easy access to more powerful guns, guns in the hands of children, and guns that werent secured are out of control in our society. As such, heres what I now think ought to be the requirements to possess a gun. Im not debating the legal language, I just think its the reasonable way to stop the shootings. Notice, none of this restricts the type of guns sold. This is aimed at the people who shoot others, because its clear that they should never have had a gun.
1.) Anyone in possession of a gun (whether they own it or not) should have a regularly renewed license. If you want to call it a permit, certificate, or something else that's fine.
2.) To get a license, you should have a background check, and be examined by a professional for emotional and mental stability appropriate for gun possession. It might be appropriate to require that examination to be accompanied by references from family, friends, employers, etc. This check is not to subject you to a mental health diagnosis, just check on your superficial and apparent gun-worthyness.
3.) To get the license, you should be required to take a safety course and pass a test appropriate to the type of gun you want to use.
4.) To get a license, you should be over 21. Under 21, you could only use a gun under direct supervision of a licensed person and after obtaining a learners license. Your license might be restricted if you have children or criminals or other unsafe people living in your home. (If you want to argue 18 or 25 or some other age, fine. 21 makes sense to me.)
5.) If you possess a gun, you would have to carry a liability insurance policy specifically for gun ownership - and likely you would have to provide proof of appropriate storage, security, and whatever statistical reasons that emerge that would drive the costs and ability to get insurance.
6.) You could not purchase a gun or ammunition without a license, and purchases would have a waiting period.
7.) If you possess a gun without a license, you go to jail, the gun is impounded, and a judge will have to let you go (just like a DUI).
8.) No one should carry an unsecured gun (except in a locked case, unloaded) when outside of home. Guns should be secure when transporting to a shooting event without demonstrating a special need. Their license should indicate training and special circumstances beyond recreational shooting (security guard, etc.).
9.) If you buy, sell, give away, or inherit a gun, your license information should be recorded.
10.) If you accidentally discharge your gun, commit a crime, get referred by a mental health professional, are served a restraining order, etc., you should lose your license and guns until reinstated by a serious relicensing process.
Most of you know that a license is no big deal. Besides a drivers license you need a license to fish, rent scuba equipment, operate a boat, or many other activities. I realize these differ by state, but that is not a reason to let anyone without a bit of sense pack a semiautomatic weapon in public, on the roads, and in schools. I think we need to make it much harder for some people to have guns.
woodsprite
(11,913 posts)Snow Leopard
(348 posts)I think most should be applied to having children too :^)
blackcrow
(156 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)Jesus Christ, now you don't even have to be a gynecologist to get murdered by lunatics with guns.
liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)able to get a damned gun in the hospital in the first place? That should be the last place where guns should be permitted.
valerief
(53,235 posts)liberalhistorian
(20,818 posts)But hospitals, clinics and medical offices are a close second.
valerief
(53,235 posts)The .01% want us all to kill each other.
hack89
(39,171 posts)do you think a sign saying "no guns" was going to stop him?