Posted on 07/13/2011 9:35:44 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
MIAMI (AP) — Doctors in Florida are fighting a first-of-its-kind law requiring them to have a legitimate safety concern before they start asking a patient about guns.
The physicians contend the new law is too broad and they should be free to ask patients and parents about firearms in the house to make sure people know how to keep them safely locked away. Doctors routinely offer similar advice about other household risks, from the dangers of tobacco use to swimming pools.
Gun rights supporters who pushed for the new law believe questions about gun ownership are an invasion of privacy, and say some people have been dropped by doctors simply because they refused to talk about firearms.
The law, signed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, took effect June 2. It forbids doctors from inquiring about guns unless the information is "relevant to a patient's medical care or safety, or the safety of others."
Doctors' groups representing about 11,000 physicians in Florida immediately sued, calling on a federal judge to block the law. They say the law is already having a chilling effect on meaningful conversations about firearms with patients, which professional medical organizations have for years advocated as good practice. Many patient questionnaires ask about gun ownership.
"Making sure patients understand the risks around them is a critical part of a doctor's mission," Douglas Hallward-Driemeier, an attorney for the physicians' said Wednesday during a court hearing on the lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke didn't issue a ruling but asked skeptical questions of the doctors.
"What's relevant about asking about my gun when I came in with a cold?" said Cooke, a 2004 appointee of President George W. Bush. "Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe the questionnaire is overbroad and not the statute."
(Excerpt) Read more at centurylink.net ...
“free to chose”
Being from the Land of Cheese, I can’t always tell my chose from my choose.
Geez. Or Gez. I’m not sure.
I can’t for the life of me understand why people hired or elected to do a job always want to do a job that is NOT theirs instead of what they were called upon to do!! First government officials want to micromanage every detail of our lives down to what we eat and the type of bulbs we use; now it’s doctors wanting to ask questions that are flat out none of their business! No way would I allow such personal questions from a physician. No way. I didn’t answer the majority of the census questions either — and I wasn’t the only one.
And he is as paranoid as I am about Obozo.
About about Windex? A child can die from ingesting a few ounces of the pretty blue window cleaner that looks like blueberry punch. Do you ask them about that?
Anyone who answers these busybodies with anything other than "none of your f***ing business" is a total fool.
Mine carries to work.
Half our appt. time is him and hubby drooling over this month’s new gun rags.
When you can't win the debate with sound reason and logic, call on black-robed mommy tyrant.
The firearms in my home potentially are a threat to anyone that might pose a threat to the safety of any person in my home, or might trespass with evident intent to damage my property, and not to anyone else. Therefore, not the business of any third party.
they can ask all they want.. and I can lie all I want.
“Do you have any guns”
Me: “Nope.. never have.. next question”
Screw them.. its none of their business.
Then there is a Dr. Ludwig who says that children who are deemed to be fat by the government’s standards should be taken away from their parents.
Doctors are becoming agents of the state. Where have we seen that before?
>> My initial thought is that I want doctors to be free to ask anything they want...
I agree, but the issue has entered the realm of collusion as I understand.
I don’t think we need doctors to tell us about gun safety, pool safety or anything related to that.
Just give us a shot of penicillin or whatever.
They don’t know any more than we do about how to live our lives.
If one has a gun or not its none of a doctors damn business. If any doctor asked me that I’d smile at him and say YOUR FIRED YOU NOSEY OLD BIDDY...
“My initial thought is that I want doctors to be free to ask anything they want, and I want to be free to chose a doctor who sticks to his knitting and addresses only the medical issues I present. But I’m sure it’s more complicated than that... “
Yea, it gets more complicated when they start asking your kids about guns in the house, as happened to me. It gets even more complicated when I have to start considering the grilling my kids may get when deciding on whether to even bring them to a doctor when sick.
Yes, in a perfect world, I would open the Yellow Pages (or look on a website) and it would be stated in plain English whether my kid will get grilled about guns.
But in the real world, it’s unlikely that I’ll know, until it’s too late.
“Anyone who answers these busybodies with anything other than “none of your f***ing business” is a total fool.”
It depends where you live and to whom the information is disclosed. Obviously if you give your answer it’s just like not consenting to a search - sure it’s your right, but it doesn’t mean the police have to look the other way.
...in other words, your file goes in the “potential threat” file for that answer. That’s why I agree with Nancy: Just say NO...No guns, that’s it (although it does get trickier with kids in the house).
they can ask all they want.. and I can lie all I want.
“Do you have any guns”
Me: “Nope.. never have.. next question”
Screw them.. its none of their business.
That’s right.
BTW, I lost all my guns in a boating accident.
I agree with that part of your statement but anything I can think of outside of mental issues that would be medically relevant to a physician would relate to use of firearms not ownership.
Such as diagnosing hearing problems or escalated lead levels in blood. Or I guess a dislocated shoulder because you're a pussy that couldn't handle the 10 gauge.
Other than that, if they are just being social engineering busy-bodies then screw em'.
Maybe an actual doctor could expand on the issue
Oh, but they want the big buck and the travel and expense accounts also.... that's why you see weasels and the leeches with white coats posing for the cameras.
Yawn, they're so pathetic.
I can see it now.
Me to patient , "you have vaginal itching and it hurts behind your eyes when you pee. So you want Norco 10's and a work note for last week and the rest of the week.... "
patient, "uh-huh"
Are you in a lot of pain... say on a 0-10 scale with 10 being the worst pain of your life and 0 being none where are you.
Patient, About a "C".
Why thank you maam. ... oh by the way do you own a gun?
Pulling up her dress and showing me male genitalia, "you mean like this?" or grabbing her purse and just opening up her purse to show the handle of a S&W .38."
Well thank you and the nurse will be in with your prescriptions in a minute..... and have a nice day.
I figured that doctors wouldn’t normally ask about such a thing unless it were part of some broader, anti-gun effort. There’s a bigger issue here than just this, clearly.
“I figured that doctors wouldn’t normally ask about such a thing unless it were part of some broader, anti-gun effort. There’s a bigger issue here than just this, clearly.”
Yea, it DEFINITELY is. I think this crap started when the CDC started calling gun-related injuries (and deaths) ‘diseases’ and then used their communications pipelines to tell doctors to start asking about it. The doctors, particularly the pediatricians (i.e., left wing nutcases), eat this stuff up and cannot wait to start the inquisition of their patients. This is right out of DC, and pre-dates Obama, at least in my case.
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