We went to him to discuss our medical concerns and then he could identify safety issues that were relevant to those concerns. There were an immense number of potential safety issues that we never discussed. For example, getting hit by a train even though there were train tracks near our house. My pediatrician would have known that that job was the responsibility of my parents.
Responsible parents that own firearms are aware that accidents can happen with a firearm just like any number of dangerous objects in their home. They do not need a physician to educate them about that fact. There are already a wealth of resources and options readily available to those parents. And criminals are not going to discuss storing their illegal firearms used in crimes with doctors.
My pediatrician never asked us about firearms because he left his political views at home where they belonged. The current debate over the ownership and use of firearms is taking place in legislatures and courts around our nation. That is where that debate belongs, not in our doctors' offices. Professional speech for healthcare workers is properly limited in order to ensure that they do not interject their personal political desires into their professional relationships.
Dr. Saunders exemplifies why these limits are necessary with political statements like "As much as the NRA and its ilk want to deny it, having a gun in the home is a risk factor for serious injury or death." or "By upholding this disgraceful law, the 11th Circuit Court has demonstrated allegiance to an ideology that favors the Second Amendment..." Do your patients a favor doc and keep your political ideology out of your professional practice.
Lots of health problem with boys who are gay.
I assume the people who back asking about guys would also back doctors asking if there were any gay children in the family.
Would the doctor make an entry in the child’s medical records about this? Are those records being updated into some national system? That kind of stuff makes me reluctant to tell a physician anything that I don’t want the rest of the world to know.
i told my doctor, when he asked if there were any guns in the house, i said, “no, i had to bring it with me so my 3 and 5 year olds wouldn’t play with it while i was gone. they love to plink cans.”
If he’s worried about his patients he can just inform each parent about gun safety, he doesn’t have to know if they own one.
What about cars!!!???
What about GOVERNMENTS???!!!
They have the right to commit Assisted Suicide too!
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Let’s assist them in that endeavor.
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If any doctor asks me about guns in the house, I will respond with, “Doctor, are you familiar with the concept of a boundary violation?” They can lose their malpractice coverage for engaging in such, and I would not hesitate to remind them of that.
Oh, and I would never go back to that doctor or that practice, and I’d let them know why.
Now if we can get the rest of the courts to do that same we'll be making progress!
“having a gun in the home is a risk factor for serious injury or death.”
So are all those Assault Knives women keep in their kitchens. More men are attacked and killed by those than women and children are by guns. We should jail every liberal chick that keeps Assault Knives out where children can get to them, strip her of her children, never to see them again, and lock the crazy and irresponsible liberal up for life.
I have one, straightforward professional obligation: to safeguard and support the health and wellbeing of my patients.
Perhaps you don't care about future patients, at least not until they are out of the womb.
Having a shovel in the house also bring a risk of serous injury, Knifes even more frequent risk.
Hi Q-ManRN, won,t you come in and sit a spell, cup of coffee? You are spot on!
I realize their egos are such that they think I come to them to “keep my children safe” but in reality I bring them there because the kid has colic, or tonsillitis, or needs his shots or they won’t let him in school. Despite his opinion, his knowledge of and wisdom about non-medical topics are undoubtedly less than mine (If he’s spent more time learning medical stuff than I, it stands to reason I know more about non-medical stuff than he does), not needed, and not welcome. Give the kid a shot, set his arm, or whatever, and keep your pedantic, superior attitude to yourself, azzhole.
Plus, any doctor chafing at the bit to ask this question may well have liberal leanings, which is just another reason to assume his opinion is less informed, less wise, and in general inferior to my own.
When we moved to Tennessee, that question was on the form when registering with our Primary Care Physician. We have no kids, so the info they’re gathering has nothing to do with child safety. It’s data mining for Hussein’s militia when the time comes.
“.. have a right..”
Hmm. Is that a constitutional right?
- Post the name, address, phone numbers of any physician asking children about their parents firearms or any possessions in they homes on the internet.
- “Beware” should lighten the load of patients for this NAZI -
Then the nanny state luvin docs better damn well also ask at every visit about:
Knives
Trampolines
Swimming pools
Bicycles
Skateboards
Roller blades
Paintball & air soft guns
Slingshots
Household chemicals
Liquor
Medicines
Pets