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Doc, what's up with snooping? (Pediatricians turning kids into snitches)
Boston Herald ^ | Thursday, October 4, 2007 | By Michael Graham

Posted on 10/04/2007 4:14:11 PM PDT by SubGeniusX

They’re watching you right now.

They counted every beer you drank during last night’s Red Sox game.

They see you sneaking out to the garage for a smoke.

They know if you’ve got a gun, and where you keep it.

They’re your kids, and they’re the National Security Agency of the Nanny State.

I found this out after my 13-year-old daughter’s annual checkup. Her pediatrician grilled her about alcohol and drug abuse.

Not my daughter’s boozing. Mine.

“The doctor wanted to know how much you and mom drink, and if I think it’s too much,” my daughter told us afterward, rolling her eyes in that exasperated 13-year-old way. “She asked if you two did drugs, or if there are drugs in the house.”

“What!” I yelped. “Who told her about my stasher, I mean, ‘It’s an outrage!’ ”

I turned to my wife. “You took her to the doctor. Why didn’t you say something?”

She couldn’t, she told me, because she knew nothing about it. All these questions were asked in private, without my wife’s knowledge or consent.

“The doctor wanted to know how we get along,” my daughter continued. Then she paused. “And if, well, Daddy, if you made me feel uncomfortable.”

Great. I send my daughter to the pediatrician to find out if she’s fit to play lacrosse, and the doctor spends her time trying to find out if her mom and I are drunk, drug-addicted sex criminals.

We’re not alone, either. Thanks to guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and supported by the commonwealth, doctors across Massachusetts are interrogating our kids about mom and dad’s “bad” behavior.

We used to be proud parents. Now, thanks to the AAP, we’re “persons of interest.”

The paranoia over parents is so strong that the AAP encourages doctors to ignore “legal barriers and deference to parental involvement” and shake the children down for all the inside information they can get.

And that information doesn’t stay with the doctor, either.

Debbie is a mom from Uxbridge who was in the examination room when the pediatrician asked her 5-year-old, “Does Daddy own a gun?”

When the little girl said yes, the doctor began grilling her and her mom about the number and type of guns, how they are stored, etc.

If the incident had ended there, it would have merely been annoying.

But when a friend in law enforcement let Debbie know that her doctor had filed a report with the police about her family’s (entirely legal) gun ownership, she got mad.

She also got a new doctor.

In fact, the problem of anti-gun advocacy in the examining room has become so widespread that some states are considering legislation to stop it.

Last year, my 7-year-old was asked about my guns during his physical examination. He promptly announced to the doctor that his father is the proud owner of a laser sighted plasma rifle perfect for destroying Throggs.

At least as of this writing, no police report has been filed.

“I still like my previous pediatrician,” Debbie told me. “She seemed embarrassed to ask the gun questions and apologized afterward. But she didn’t seem to have a choice.”

Of course doctors have a choice.

They could choose, for example, to ask me about my drunken revels, and not my children.

They could choose not to put my children in this terrible position.

They could choose, even here in Massachusetts, to leave their politics out of the office.

But the doctors aren’t asking us parents.

They’re asking our kids.

Worst of all, they’re asking all kids about sexual abuse without any provocation or probable cause.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared all parents guilty until proven innocent.

And then they wonder why we drink.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: 2amendmentsisters; bang; banglist; doctors; hillarycare; nannystate; privacy; socialism
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To: Smokin' Joe
They used smoking to get this foot in the totalitarian door.

And we all see this creeping socialism with smoking.

First, smoke-free workplaces. Then smoke-free restaurants/bars. They pushed to move smokers away from building entrances. They are banning smoking in cars. Now, they want to ban smoking in apartments.

Once the legal precedent is set that the state can dictate what you can and cannot do in your home, they can start to dictate other rules as well.

Oh, and they always rely on your neighbors and children to report you.

101 posted on 10/05/2007 3:33:03 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (The Democratic Party will not exist in a few years....we are watching history unfold before us.)
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To: dawn53

You’re right. This has been going on for years and years. Doctors and dentists are required to report injuires that could have been caused by another person even if it was truly an accident. The same thing has happened to me a couple of times. I actually heard my dentist call into somewhere when I chipped my tooth. I should have had the guts to ask who they were calling, but didn’t.


102 posted on 10/05/2007 3:33:13 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: boop

I just got back from Vegas Wednesday night. I can’t tell you folks how nice it was to be around happy adults, doing what adults do. It was nearly heaven. I met so many happy and nice people.


103 posted on 10/05/2007 3:35:58 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: darkangel82

It is not Mitt Romney’s doing — it is the bureaucrats.


104 posted on 10/05/2007 3:38:46 AM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: SubGeniusX

Recently, Michael Medved had his teenage son on his show talking about his experience in the doctor’s office for some routine matter. The doctor (a female) asked him all sorts of questions about his sexual orientation and behavior, drug use, etc.


105 posted on 10/05/2007 3:48:24 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (Visualize the Clintons in jail.)
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To: John Leland 1789
My third child (born in early August) was a preemie, born at 33 weeks. I had a hospital rep and a Keystone Healthbastards rep in my @ss for the three and a half weeks she was in the NICU, trying to get me to sign hr up for several state-sponsored health "benefits" that were actually welfare.

They absolutely could not understand why I was annoyed with them.

106 posted on 10/05/2007 3:52:29 AM PDT by Malacoda (A day without a pi$$ed-off muslim is like a day without sunshine.)
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To: Malacoda

Yep, same experience. Obviously they got information from y’all’s records, too, that you didn’t authorize being let out.


107 posted on 10/05/2007 4:33:38 AM PDT by John Leland 1789
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To: darkangel82; Gabz
Statists are the majority on here now, unfortunately.

I wouldn't say that they're the majority, but there certainly are enough to make one uncomfortable.

108 posted on 10/05/2007 4:33:45 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: Smokin' Joe
If we are intimidated, they will win, because that is the entire thrust of their tactics, to intimidate us into compliance.

Having lived long and fairly well, and having dealt with doctors, lawyers, bureaucrats of varying power and authority and other assorted lowlifes, I can honestly say that the only persons who ever intimidated me were addressed as, "Your Honor".

109 posted on 10/05/2007 4:46:45 AM PDT by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: SubGeniusX

The med students who go into pediatrics tend to be women, and/or very liberal. Not surprised they are turning to the time honored tactics of the Nazi’s and Soviet’s of turning the “Children” into good little comrades.


110 posted on 10/05/2007 4:51:32 AM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: There is no god named Allah, and Muhammed is a false prophet)
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To: TexanToTheCore
Had a PA (docotr’s assitant) ask me about whether I owned guns. I said “none of your business” and immediately changed doctors. Asking this question in Texas is a good “revenue reduction program” for MDs.

"Sure do guy, here let me show it to ya....."
111 posted on 10/05/2007 4:52:52 AM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: There is no god named Allah, and Muhammed is a false prophet)
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To: SubGeniusX

Doesn’t Massachusetts have the mandated health care, with some government funding....hmmm, could the health system that everyone is begging for the government to provide lead to doctors acting as government agents...

Nope, not gonna happen, oh, wait, that is the point of the article....


112 posted on 10/05/2007 5:27:27 AM PDT by CSM ("Dogs and beer. Proof that God loves us.- Al Gator (8/24/2007))
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To: TexanToTheCore
The right answer is to ask the doctor to fill out a form documenting his qualifications to offer recommendations concerning firearm safety:

THE PHYSICIAN QUALIFICATION AND LIABILITY FORM

Check one, as appropriate:

___ I represent that I have reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private firearms ownership. I further represent that I have reviewed all other relevant home safety issues with the Patient, including those relating to electricity, drains, disposals, compactors, garage doors, driveway safety, pool safety, pool fence codes and special locks for pool gates, auto safety, gas, broken glass, stored cleaning chemicals, buckets, toilets, sharp objects, garden tools, home tools, power tools, lawnmowers, lawn chemicals, scissors, needles, forks, knives, etc. I also acknowledge, by receiving this document, I have been made aware that, in his inaugural address before the American Medical Association on June 20, 2001, new president Richard Corlin, MD, admitted "What we don't know about violence and guns is literally killing us...researchers do not have the data to tell how kids get guns, if trigger locks work, what the warning signs of violence in schools and at the workplace are and other critical questions due to lack of research funding." (UPI). In spite of this admission, I represent that I have sufficient data and expertise to provide expert and clinically sound advice to patients regarding firearms in the home.

OR

___ I am knowingly engaging in Home/Firearms Safety Counseling without certification, license or formal training in Risk Management, and; I have not reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private firearms ownership.


113 posted on 10/05/2007 5:30:34 AM PDT by jdege
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To: CzarNicky

Sure.


114 posted on 10/05/2007 5:50:38 AM PDT by Jersey Republican Biker Chick (RIP Eric Medlen. You will be missed.../ Get well Soon John Force!!!)
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To: darkangel82
That “doctor” needs a visit from the men in blue.

You mean these guys? Why? 

 

115 posted on 10/05/2007 6:48:56 AM PDT by zeugma (Ubuntu - Linux for human beings)
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To: Eaker

Thanks Eaker! That is brilliant!


116 posted on 10/05/2007 7:31:45 AM PDT by beltfed308 (Rudy: When you absolutely,positively need a liberal for President.)
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To: metesky
I can honestly say that the only persons who ever intimidated me were addressed as, "Your Honor".

I was a wee bit intimidated once by an officer of the law who had mistaken me for an unsavory character, at least until he holstered his weapon.

Danged if that little opening in the business end of a 9mm doesn't look big when the guy behind it is all pumped.

Amazing how calm a guy gets, too, after the initial rush.

117 posted on 10/05/2007 7:36:29 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: SubGeniusX
I heard Graham mention this issue, but missed most of it. This is completely unacceptable.
118 posted on 10/05/2007 7:39:46 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: SubGeniusX

I would have gone down and had some words with that doctor. It was not a darn bit os his business.


119 posted on 10/05/2007 7:43:52 AM PDT by Piquaboy (22 year veteran of the Army, Air Force and Navy, Pray for all our military .)
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To: mombyprofession
I remember years ago, the first time a doctor asked me if I was being physically abused by my husband. I laughed, but I was shocked, because it appeared to be a standard question asked during a routine visit.

A year or so later, I took my husband to the emergency room for an asthma attack, and the doctor asked him, while I was there, if I was physically abusing him. It's bizarre.

120 posted on 10/05/2007 7:46:19 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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