Posted on 07/03/2012 4:42:34 AM PDT by MedNole
A federal judge has blocked the state of Florida from enforcing a new law pushed by firearm advocates that banned thousands of doctors from discussing gun ownership with their patients.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who had already issued a preliminary injunction last September, made her decision permanent late Friday when she ruled in favor of groups of physicians who asserted the state violated their free speech rights. She said the law was so vague that it violated the First Amendment rights of doctors, noting the legislations privacy provisions fail to provide any standards for practitioners to follow.
The physicians lawsuit, an ideological battle between advocates of free speech and the right to bear arms, has been dubbed Docs vs. Glocks. The state Department of Health could appeal her summary judgment, which addressed legislation signed into law last year by Gov. Rick Scott.
In her 25-page ruling, Cooke clearly sided with the physicians, saying evidence showed that physicians began self-censoring because of the chilling effect of the legislation.
What is curious about this law and what makes it different from so many other laws involving practitioners speech is that it aims to restrict a practitioners ability to provide truthful, non-misleading information to a patient, whether relevant or not at the time of the consult with the patient, Cooke wrote, citing the benefit of such preventive medicine.
A federal judge has blocked the state of Florida from enforcing a new law pushed by firearm advocates that banned thousands of doctors from discussing gun ownership with their patients.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, who had already issued a preliminary injunction last September, made her decision permanent late Friday when she ruled in favor of groups of physicians who asserted the state violated their free speech rights. .
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
First black woman federal judge in FL. Appointed in 2003 by GW Bush. Per Wiki
“...they ask about everything from swimming pools, seat belts, bike safety, guns, etc. to make sure that all appropriate safety measures were being taken.”
It is not my physicians job to make sure I’m safe, it is his job to heal me when I’m not safe.
This becomes even more relevant with the coming of socialized medicine.
In my experience, they didn’t ask about most of that stuff, just the guns part.
I encountered this in one of our last pediatrician visits about a dozen years ago. The physician involved got really huffy when I suggested there appeared there might be a boundary violation involved.
And if I have a gun and say I don’t? To my DOCTOR??? Did I just break a law? To my DOCTOR???
I think you just keep the focus squarely about ones health and keep the conversations squarely on those issues and if the doctor gets a bit pushy you start asking the doctor about his house and pool and guns...after all one can argue that a doctor’s ability to practise medicine may be affected by his inability to keep his own house hold safe and in order!
Imagine the reaction if your doctors started asking if you own any hoodies.
“No doctor but I own a hoody with “Justice for Trayvon” stamped onto it!
Heh heh!
“Mr. GnL, do you have a gun in your home?”
“No, doc, I have many guns. I have an arsenal so large it would scare the bejeezus out of you.”
You can tell your physician like I tell mine: MYOB.
It ain’t his job. The government made it his job.See the new zerocare law which authorizes such “wellness screenings”. While they have been pushing this type of crap in wellness screenings for years, the gummint is now wanting the info in your emr. Scru ‘em.
My last visit to a Dr...
“OK, I’ll answer your seatbelt question, but don’t ask about anything else.”
“Mr. GnL, do you have a gun in your home”
Maybe I do and maybe I don’t...next question please!
This question was on the questionnaire I got when taking my yearly physical. I wrote in large letters: “NOT YOUR BUSINESS!!”
When going over the questionnaire, the doctor sheepishly explained that this question was there because if I did have guns, he would want to know if my children were trained in gun safety. I said, “Well, then why don’t you just ask me if my children are trained in gun safety?”
He moved on.
The thing is, any answer besides a “no,” pretty much means a “yes.” Doctors are smart enough to figure that out. “MYOB” definitely means a “yes.”
“I don’t talk about that. It would spoil the surprise.”
The only Dr. that should care about my association with firearms is my audiologist....and she’s my wife, who has her own collection of firearms.
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Let Freedom Ring,
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