The American Medical Association House of Delegates voted to adopt four new policies during the first day of its annual meeting June 12.
Here's a summary of the four new policies, according to a June 12 news release from the AMA:
- The AMA will encourage policymakers to consider the training patients, including senior patients and those in underserved areas, need to have to maximize the benefits of telehealth and improve health outcomes.
- The AMA will engage stakeholders to recommend standardized vision requirements for driver's licenses to policymakers in order to reduce isolation, depression, and increased expenses due to unnecessary medical visits in those who are denied licenses. Standard should also take technological advancements such as automated cars into consideration.
- The AMA will encourage policymakers to regulate "cooling/nonmenthol" tobacco products in the same way typical tobacco products are regulated in order to prevent the continued targeted marketing of flavored tobacco products to youth and marginalized populations.
- The AMA will support policymakers' efforts at the state and federal level to address the disparity in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine that has resulted in a disproportionate share of Black people and people of color receiving lengthier sentences.