Citation

Jacobs JW, Stephens LD, Woo JS, Allen ES, Booth GS. Lancet 2023; 401(10380): 914-915.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00110-1

PMID

36933937

Abstract

The incidence of mass shootings in the USA continues to increase; more than 45 000 total gun deaths occurred in 2020 alone, the most on record for years with full data available. These statistics highlight increasing gun violence, one of the primary contributors to blood shortages. Patients with gunshot wounds are 5 times more likely to require a blood transfusion and receive 10 times more blood components than patients with traumatic injuries that are not gunshot wounds, equating to millions of US dollars in blood acquisition costs. Furthermore, patients with gunshot wounds are 8 times more likely to die than patients with non-gunshot-wound penetrating trauma and 14 times more likely to die than patients with trauma overall.

Although seemingly unrelated, the issues of gun violence and blood usage are intricately linked as one directly affects the other, resulting in a disturbing firearm-blood-transfusion complex. Past US presidents have warned of similarly perverted links regarding the military-industrial complex, which describes the mutually beneficial relationship between the military and the defence industry that supplies it. Similarly, the unsought firearm-blood-transfusion complex should be guarded against.

Although the debate surrounding gun control has traditionally focused on limiting the production, distribution, and ability to purchase firearms, the importance of marketing is increasingly being recognised4
as gun manufacturers have repurposed their marketing campaigns to focus on handgun advertisements for self-defence and military-style weapon advertisements directed towards young men.5
These marketing strategies are partly responsible for the near-record levels of firearm sales in the USA,6
which might be contributing to the increase in gun injuries, inadvertently benefiting the blood industry financially and exacerbating an already constrained blood supply...

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; *Firearms; Blood Transfusion