Wanna discuss firearms with your doc?

[Woobie]

I think it`s safe to say, without a government mandate, doctors generally would never discuss the subject of gun ownership with their patients. In the scenario you provide, guns have nothing to do with a suicidal patient. No more so than cars, razor blades, prescription drug, etc. If you`re fine with being scolded by your physician for exercising your Second Amendment rights, then you have no dog in this fight. Never mind the data they are collecting for government. I`ll have none of it personally.

I would expect a physician to discuss pertinent subject matter with a potential suicide. If the conversation led to guns, it should not be taboo.

Government shouldn't be mandating the question, but that isn't necessarily the only reason he might be asking. His malpractice insurer might require him to ask. If I don't like that, then I am free to decline the information or his services. It's called freedom of association.

I have as much dog in this fight as anyone, and you have no right to make that determination for me. If I were "scolded" by a physician for owning guns, I certainly would not return to him.

 

[ATM]

...If I were "scolded" by a physician for owning guns, I certainly would not return to him.

I would


...once




...to capture my response on video.

 

[Woobie]

I would


...once




...to capture my response on video.

Well for one thing, there would likely be OC involved.

 

[Old Dog]

1. Don't need such a law. 2. Court was correct to strike it down. 3. I'm not going to tell any doc anything I don't think is their business related to my health issues. 4. I will be the one to determine if it is their business and if I determine it is not I may or may not tell them so. 5. There should also be no law made that attempts to compel me to tell a doc anything. And this is my take on the matter!

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Lol, this is getting rich. But I`ll say, no, I`m hardly a snowflake, and I understand full well the Constitution offers no guarantee from being offended as those who disdain Christian symbols seem to think. However, when one is involved in a personal transaction, as is the transaction between a doctor and a patient, and when a patient is confronted with prying, intrusive questions about whether or not they actively participate in a constitutionally protected right, and understanding that the entire point of the grilling is to attack that right, as well as provide data to government agencies for unethical reasons, yes, that is harassment!

You've got the right to drink alcohol, too. Do you get upset when your doctor asks if you drink? It's my 21st amendment right (sort of) !!!! Your forefathers didn't fight for the right to imbibe suds for some medical nerd to harass you about it.

That, that there, is the forefront of American liberty.

I seriously think you're overreacting. It's a simple question. If "they" want to know if you have guns, it's way easier than co-opting your doctor. Self reporting sucks anyway. Harrassment/grilling/etc seems a bit histrionic.

 

[Woobie]

I seriously think you're overreacting. It's a simple question. If "they" want to know if you have guns, it's way easier than co-opting your doctor. Self reporting sucks anyway. Harrassment/grilling/etc seems a bit histrionic.

I'm always entertained by all the people who distrust doctors, accountants, lawyers and other professionals because they will rat us out to "The Man" about our guns and NFA items. Then they post pictures and talk about it on INGO....

 

[actaeon277]

You've got the right to drink alcohol, too. Do you get upset when your doctor asks if you drink? It's my 21st amendment right (sort of) !!!! Your forefathers didn't fight for the right to imbibe suds for some medical nerd to harass you about it.

That, that there, is the forefront of American liberty.

I seriously think you're overreacting. It's a simple question. If "they" want to know if you have guns, it's way easier than co-opting your doctor. Self reporting sucks anyway. Harrassment/grilling/etc seems a bit histrionic.

If I go in for heat stroke from work, then no, I don't expect to get grilled about guns... or alcohol.

 

[Bill of Rights]

If I go in for heat stroke from work, then no, I don't expect to get grilled about guns... or alcohol.

If you go in for heat stroke, it is particularly relevant that you have or have not been drinking alcohol that day. Alcohol causes, among other things, dehydration, as well as dilation of your blood vessels, the latter of which makes you more susceptible to heat stroke/heat exhaustion, etc.
Sometimes, the questions we ask really are medical questions, and sometimes, they're just nosy bureaucats with nothing better to do than amass data on vices. I am expected to ask every patient about tobacco, alcohol, drugs, and caffeine. Whether I do or not is tabulated and can affect my income or even whether or not I remain employed. That said, I'm going to write down what you tell me, unless there is a reason for me to know you're lying, as many do. (example: If you come in drunk, I won't ask if you drink, I already know the answer. If you come in three days later, sober, and tell me you don't drink... I know you're lying, and will document that you told me no, but your history indicates otherwise. I won't fault someone for lying in that setting, but by the same token, there may be warnings you would not be given, such as what meds you can and can't safely drink while taking, if you tell your nurse that you don't drink. From work would seem to minimize this, but we still need to know, and your work will probably want a drug screen and alcohol level in your blood anyway.

On topic, however... I can think of very few situations where I might need to know about your carry or ownership of guns, and I might, if required to ask about it as I am substances, find a method of asking the question without receiving an answer.

Blessings,
Bill

 

[actaeon277]

Then they can ask about alcohol in the previous 8 hours.
They don't need to know how much I drink a week, if it's locked up, if it came from an authorized dealer, etc.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Then they can ask about alcohol in the previous 8 hours.
They don't need to know how much I drink a week, if it's locked up, if it came from an authorized dealer, etc.

I might argue that one is at least a reasonable question as it directly addresses a potential health issue. Same for how much you may or may not smoke.

"Mr. Actaeon, you really shouldnt be drinking a 12 pack a day. You need to cut back to a few beers a week. Now go down to the lab for bloodwork so we can see how damaged your liver is."

 

[Bill of Rights]

Then they can ask about alcohol in the previous 8 hours.
They don't need to know how much I drink a week, if it's locked up, if it came from an authorized dealer, etc.

The only question on the subject that I'm required to ask is, "Do you or did you used to drink alcohol?" The computer has a few more data points that I'm sure I'm causing considerable heartburn to some bean-counter by not filling out, but that's not my problem. I addressed the subject, as required. If my doc says to draw an alcohol level, we'll know if you've been drinking in the recent few hours, but I've seen some of them decline to order it even when we know someone has been drinking, as irrelevant to their care. (case-dependent, as most things in medicine are)

At the end of the ED stay, I'll usually tell someone, if the med they're prescribed will interact, "We don't want you drinking alcohol with this medicine. Sometimes that combination makes people do nasty things like stop breathing, and that's never a good thing."
I'm on board with the idea that what you drink is your business, and doesn't need to go into a database...except when it does, because it affects what we're able to do for you. Much like nitroglycerin: It does a great job dilating blood vessels and increasing blood flow and oxygen to the heart, but if I give it to you and you've taken certain meds in the last 72 hrs or so, it's probably going to drop your blood pressure through the floor and we won't get it back. End result is you wake up dead. BTW, those "certain meds" are things like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra, which many times, people don't want to admit they're taking. If I don't ask, though, and give you a nitro, that's my responsibility. We need to make sure we aren't unknowingly giving you something that's going to kill you.

Again, however, this has little if anything to do with the issue of guns, either on your person or in your home. I suppose I could include that in my warnings, i.e. "I recommend you not carry your gun while taking this, not because you can't handle it, but because if God forbid you have to use it, a prosecutor is going to crucify you for your so-called lack of judgment", but that's more legal advice than it is medical, and I refer people to attorneys for legal advice. ;-)

Blessings,
Bill

 

[ATM]

...I suppose I could include that in my warnings, i.e. "I recommend you not carry your gun while taking this, not because you can't handle it, but because if God forbid you have to use it, a prosecutor is going to crucify you for your so-called lack of judgment", but that's more legal advice than it is medical, and I refer people to attorneys for legal advice. ;-)

Blessings,
Bill

If, God forbid, he needed to use it, he'd best have it with him.

Any charge he doesn't survive to face in court is a charge he'd probably have been willing to face in court.

 

[Expat]

My doctor is way too eager to start that prostate check to talk about other stuff.

 

[Libertarian01]

...it's probably going to drop your blood pressure through the floor and we won't get it back. End result is you wake up dead...
Blessings,
Bill

I did that once! Then I realized I wasn't dead, I was just in Nebraska.

 

[actaeon277]

I might argue that one is at least a reasonable question as it directly addresses a potential health issue. Same for how much you may or may not smoke.

"Mr. Actaeon, you really shouldnt be drinking a 12 pack a day. You need to cut back to a few beers a week. Now go down to the lab for bloodwork so we can see how damaged your liver is."

The problem diagnosed was heat stress/heat exhaustion. I did not go in for alcohol related symptoms.

 

[Cameramonkey]

The problem diagnosed was heat stress/heat exhaustion. I did not go in for alcohol related symptoms.

Point missed. I was illustrating that asking a question as it directly relates to health by a doctor at a general doctor visit (and not an OSHA mandated post accident tox screen which now I see you are referencing) is not out of bounds. The health issues relating to owning a gun are not a direct correlation to health of a patient and not any business of the doctor.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So raise your hand if you are in favor of state laws about what a doctor can and can't ask you.

 

[actaeon277]

I am in favor of my doc asking and treating what I came in for.

The same as a car. I do not expect a radiator problem to lead to questions about the conditions in my house that my car is subjected to because Ford/Chevy/Toyota/Honda all got together and made it "required".

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I am in favor of my doc asking and treating what I came in for.

The same as a car. I do not expect a radiator problem to lead to questions about the conditions in my house that my car is subjected to because Ford/Chevy/Toyota/Honda all got together and made it "required".

That's not the question I posed, nor what the article that sparked the OP was actually about. Are you for state laws that prohibit questions a doctor can ask you?

 

[actaeon277]

That's not the question I posed, nor what the article that sparked the OP was actually about. Are you for state laws that prohibit questions a doctor can ask you?

I am actually with you (mostly) on this.
But, when every doc asks you this, what are you going to do?