Doc: More $ for trauma research

A LEADING city trauma doctor noted Wednesday that even though violent deaths far outnumber those from cancer and AIDS, the amount spent on trauma research pales in comparison to those illnesses.

Dr. Ronald Simon, chief of trauma at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, was reacting to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health which found that $6.6 billion was spent on firearm injuries nationally between 2006 and 2014.

The cost includes roughly $730 million a year in initial hospital costs, the study found.

“Trauma is one of the underappreciated diseases,” Simon said. “But the money spent on trauma research is minuscule compared to what is spent on AIDS and cancer.”

Traumatic injury is the leading cause of death for people younger than 44, according to the National Trauma Institute. It is also the leading cause of death for children.

The study found that more than 267,000 people between 2006 and 2014 were admitted for firearm injuries to hospitals nationwide. Northeast states accounted for about 16% of those injuries.

“The trauma community has been fairly vocal about the need for gun control, but any time you want to talk about it you hit a wall of silence because it’s so politically charged,” he said.

Simon said a significant number of gun violence victims are not insured.

“Until they got shot they were young healthy people who never had been sick and didn’t need insurance,” he said.