Collateral Damage: Mexico's medical workers on the front lines of drug war

More destruction of Mexican society, so called "collateral damage."

Mexico's medical workers on the front lines of drug war: "With alarming frequency, narcotics violence is spilling into hospitals and clinics across Mexico. Drug traffickers have shot doctors who treated them. They've burst into emergency rooms and executed their enemies on operating tables. They've hijacked ambulances, demanding that paramedics save the lives of wounded gunmen.

'These attacks have not been reported by the press, who fear reprisals,' said Ricardo Monreal, a federal senator and former governor of Zacatecas state. 'Like teachers who are afraid to teach, the doctors do not want to work. This is more collateral damage generated by the fight against organized crime.'

"This is having a significant impact on public health," said human rights activist and university professor Victor Quintana, a former legislator from the border state of Chihuahua. "Organized crime is engaged in kidnappings, constant intimidation and extortion. Many doctors have been forced to emigrate because they had to close their clinics. This is reducing medical services."

"Before, hospitals were respected," said Martin Barron Cruz, a researcher at the National Institute of Criminal Science in Mexico City. "This adds to the psychological war by organized crime, as a show of force that is part of an alarming social deterioration."" Nov. 19, Washington Post 2010