Coronavirus Fears Prompt More Cancellations

ACP says its decision to cancel its conference next month was based on "rapidly escalating concerns about the Coronavirus Disease 2019."

The American College of Physicians on Tuesday cancelled its annual Internal Medicine Meeting 2020 next month in Los Angeles over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.

Philadelphia-based ACP said the decision was "based on recent reports from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of rapidly escalating concerns about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and in recognition of the vital role of internal medicine physicians in diagnosing, managing and caring for their patients and communities on the front lines."

"ACP also recognizes its professional responsibility to consider the safety of its meeting participants by modeling social distancing and not contributing to the spread of the virus through a large public gathering such as its annual scientific meeting," ACP said in a media release.

ACP, the nation's largest specialty organization, with 159,000 members in more than 145 countries, was scheduled to meet on April 23-25 in Los Angeles. The cancellation joins a growing list of associations opting out of conferences because of fears of the coronavirus.

Last week, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, American College of Healthcare Executives, America's Health Insurance Plans, and the American Organization for Nurse Leadership all cancelled upcoming meetings for later this month.

Elsewhere, a state judge in New York has delayed the March 20 start of a trial against several opioid manufacturers.