Florida Bill , Doctors On Gun Safety

[philw]

Florida Bill Could Muzzle Doctors On Gun Safety

Weekend Edition Saturday

[4 min 12 sec]
May 7, 2011
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign a bill that will make the state the first in the nation to prohibit doctors from asking patients if they own guns. The bill is aimed particularly at pediatricians, who routinely ask new parents if they have guns at home and if they're stored safely.

Pediatricians say it's about preventing accidental injuries. Gun rights advocates say the doctors have a political agenda.

We take our children to pediatricians for medical care — not moral judgment, not privacy intrusions.

- Marion Hammer, NRA lobbyist

An Invasion Of Privacy?

As parents know, pediatricians ask a lot of questions. Dr. Louis St. Petery says it's all part of what doctors call "anticipatory guidance" — teaching parents how to safeguard against accidental injuries. Pediatricians ask about bike helmets, seat belts and other concerns.

"If you have a pool, let's talk about pool safety so we don't have accidental drownings," he says. "And if you have firearms, let's talk about gun safety so that they're stored properly — you know, the gun needs to be locked up, the ammunition stored separate from the gun, etc., so that children don't have access to them."

For decades, the American Academy of Pediatrics has encouraged its members to ask questions about guns and how they're stored, as part of well-child visits.

But Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Association's lobbyist in Tallahassee, says that's not a pediatrician's job.

"We take our children to pediatricians for medical care — not moral judgment, not privacy intrusions," she says.

NRA lobbyists helped write a bill that largely bans health professionals from asking about guns. Hammer says she and other NRA members consider the questions an intrusion on their Second Amendment rights.

"This bill is about helping families who are complaining about being questioned about gun ownership, and the growing anti-gun political agenda being carried out in examination rooms by doctors and staffs," Hammer says.

It's not just questions in the examining room that lead the NRA to charge pediatricians with a political agenda. Out of concern for the high number of firearms injuries among children and adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics is also on record supporting gun control.

'More Children [Will Be] Injured And Killed'

In a compromise with another doctors' group, the Florida Medical Association, the NRA agreed to one exception to the ban: Doctors would be permitted to ask questions about guns in cases where they feel it's directly relevant to the patient's care or the safety of others.

Dr. Paul Robinson, a specialist in adolescent medicine, told a Florida Senate committee recently that that would allow doctors to counsel suicidal teens. But there are other cases, he said, where the law — and the doctor's options — are less clear.

What if I have an adolescent who's been bullied, who's not suicidal? I don't think, under the current bill, I'm entitled to ask him if there's a gun in the home, or if he's carried a gun to school, or if he's thinking of harming someone else with a gun.

- Dr. Paul Robinson

"What if I have an adolescent who's been bullied, who's not suicidal?" he said. "I don't think, under the current bill, I'm entitled to ask him if there's a gun in the home, or if he's carried a gun to school, or if he's thinking of harming someone else with a gun."

Few of those who voted in favor of the bill spoke out, either in committee or on the floor. One who did was state Sen. Alan Hays, a retired dentist from Central Florida.

"It's none of my business what kind of weapons, if any weapons, you have in your home," he said. "When you come to see me, or you bring one of your children to see me, my obligation is to find out what medical things are pertinent to your particular situation."

Ultimately, both Florida's Senate and House agreed with the NRA and voted to approve the bill. For supporters of gun rights, it's another victory — one that St. Petery says will negatively affect pediatricians and their patients.

"Many pediatricians will think twice about asking about firearms and discussing firearms safety," he says. "What I think is going to happen is there'll be more children injured and killed from firearms in the home that are not properly stored."

Although Florida's Legislature is the first to approve the measure, it's also being considered in other states, including North Carolina and Alabama.

http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136063523/florida-bill-could-muzzle-doctors-on-gun-safety


also more on it with some extra info on the changes that were made

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/mar/14/marion-hammer/gun-lobbyist-says-doctors-play-politics-gun-questi/



ok  Florida or Texas  looks like good places to live if I ever get sick of Aust....  as long as I can get Coopers Beer and Farmers Union Ice Coffee..  and convince the Mrs.

[fightingquaker13]

Its only good if you don't like free speech and/or like the government messing around with doctor patient relationships. Newsflash to the NRA, if your doctor asks you a question, you don't have to answer it. If there were some sort of law requiring doctors to ask the questions or patients to answer them, I'd say we need this bill passed, as we needed one in the case of adoption screenings. As it is, I see it as big brother telling my doc what she can and cannot ask me to suit a political agenda. Even if I agree with the agenda, I don't welcome this kind of "help". If I think the doctor is nosy or has an agenda, I can always find another doc. I don't need the government doing this for me.
FQ13

[Hazcat]

Newsflash to FQ.  The AMA needs to keep their nose out of my non-health business.  Drs have refused patients that would not answer that question!

[fightingquaker13]

Newsflash to FQ.  The AMA needs to keep their nose out of my non-health business.  Drs have refused patients that would not answer that question!

Haz, you know we don't need to argue over 2A stuff. My point is that I don't want the government getting in between doctors and patients and dictating what can and can't be asked (or left unanswered). It should be my call, not Tallahassee's as to what goes on in the doc's office. And to be honest, if your doctor is an anti and want's to tell you to get rid of your bayonets because your kid has an unhealthy obsession with sharp objects and dangerous game ( ) that's their right. Fire them if you don't like it, but don't make it a crime.
FQ13

[Solus]

Standing with FQ on this.

The government shouldn't be telling doctors (or anyone) what they should or shouldn't be asking clients.  Let the clients decide if they wish to answer questions or if they want to see another provider.

Would be nice to find a Dr. who owns firearms and is into shooting and reloading.  Pass some time comparing notes.

[Sponsor]

[Hazcat]

Haz, you know we don't need to argue over 2A stuff. My point is that I don't want the government getting in between doctors and patients and dictating what can and can't be asked (or left unanswered). It should be my call, not Tallahassee's as to what goes on in the doc's office. And to be honest, if your doctor is an anti and want's to tell you to get rid of your bayonets because your kid has an unhealthy obsession with sharp objects and dangerous game ( ) that's their right. Fire them if you don't like it, but don't make it a crime.
FQ13

And if the Dr refuses you on the bases that you are a gun owner?  Is that OK? (it has happened)

So easiest 'remedy' is to say Drs can't ask about guns.  Then no harm, no foul on either party. 

I personally don't have a problem with a Dr asking an HONEST question about guns when you have kids and seeing if you have 'thought about it' (safe store, education, etc).  BUT the reason MOST are asking is because the AMA is against guns and are trying to make them a health issue (back door gun control).  SO ..... DR keep yer damn nose out of my personal business!

[fightingquaker13]

And if the Dr refuses you on the bases that you are a gun owner?  Is that OK? (it has happened)

So easiest 'remedy' is to say Drs can't ask about guns.  Then no harm, no foul on either party. 

I personally don't have a problem with a Dr asking an HONEST question about guns when you have kids and seeing if you have 'thought about it' (safe store, education, etc).  BUT the reason MOST are asking is because the AMA is against guns and are trying to make them a health issue (back door gun control).  SO ..... DR keep yer damn nose out of my personal business!

Yeah Haz, it IS ok if the doc asks you about guns or anything else. As long as he's not working for the government (where as he's taking tax payer money and has to take all comers). If a private doctor doesn't want to treat you for what ever reason it should be their right. Just like it should be your right to take your business elsewhere if he's a nosy SOB. Its not something the government should be involved with. As you just said "DR keep your damn nose out of my business". If you can say it me, you can say it to her and there is no need for a law.
FQ13

[PegLeg45]

Standing with FQ on this.

The government shouldn't be telling doctors (or anyone) what they should or shouldn't be asking clients.  Let the clients decide if they wish to answer questions or if they want to see another provider.

Would be nice to find a Dr. who owns firearms and is into shooting and reloading.  Pass some time comparing notes.

I'm lucky to have that. My ortho surgeon is an avid shooter and hunter.
*(And as a side note, his son is also the freshman US Congressman from my district, so I can pester him about the goings-on with bills from time to time).

[Pathfinder]

Yeah Haz, it IS ok if the doc asks you about guns or anything else. As long as he's not working for the government (where as he's taking tax payer money and has to take all comers). If a private doctor doesn't want to treat you for what ever reason it should be their right. Just like it should be your right to take your business elsewhere if he's a nosy SOB. Its not something the government should be involved with. As you just said "DR keep your damn nose out of my business". If you can say it me, you can say it to her and there is no need for a law.
FQ13

No, it is not alright. I go to a doctor for medical stuff, not for him to ask none-of-his-damn-business nosy questions because some azzholes in Chicago (home to the AMA BTW) tell him/her s/he has to. Can he also ask you about your gold or silver stores? Can he also ask personal questions about your spouse? For the record, I don't want my car mechanic asking about stuff like this either.

 If a private doctor doesn't want to treat you for what ever reason it should be their right. - so according to you, a doctor can also refuse to treat blacks, or women, or Hispanics or gays? We've been through this with TAB and you before - doctors are publicly licensed providers, state-sanctioned and all that. As such, they do not have rights. The individual does, but the state-sanctioned corporate entity does not.

As a result, no, doctors cannot discriminate. If you hadn't spent so much time in the libtard indoctrination centers, you might begin to understand these things. Go to a neurosurgeon for a heart problem, yeah, they can toss you to another specialist. But not for the reasons you seem to think are OK.

[fightingquaker13]

No, it is not alright. I go to a doctor for medical stuff, not for him to ask none-of-his-damn-business nosy questions because some azzholes in Chicago (home to the AMA BTW) tell him/her s/he has to. Can he also ask you about your gold or silver stores? Can he also ask personal questions about your spouse? For the record, I don't want my car mechanic asking about stuff like this either.

 If a private doctor doesn't want to treat you for what ever reason it should be their right. - so according to you, a doctor can also refuse to treat blacks, or women, or Hispanics or gays? We've been through this with TAB and you before - doctors are publicly licensed providers, state-sanctioned and all that. As such, they do not have rights. The individual does, but the state-sanctioned corporate entity does not.

As a result, no, doctors cannot discriminate. If you hadn't spent so much time in the libtard indoctrination centers, you might begin to understand these things. Go to a neurosurgeon for a heart problem, yeah, they can toss you to another specialist. But not for the reasons you seem to think are OK.

Path
You are standing up a strawman and you know it. Race, gender, religion and in some (not all) states, sexual preference are protected classes. Those you cannot discriminate against. Likewise, there are generally exigent circumstance rules that forbid providers from denying urgent care and the like. Beyond that though, docs are free to say no. If they don't like Masons, left handers or republicans they can choose not to do business with you. You can do the same. You seem to fail to address my argument. I'm not saying they SHOULD ask you about guns. I am merely saying that there should NOT be a law that tells what they can (or must) ask. Your life, your body, your choice. Big brother has no place here. If the Doc is a PITA, go elsewhere, there is a whole yellow pages full of them.  Just don't expect the nanny state to write the script for your doctor's consultation. And you call me a "faux libertarian".
FQ13