Doctors required to ask about guns in the home. Do you have to answer?

[88GT]

No such thing as a general practitioner, now they're all specialists... So instead of telling you what you did wrong, they tell you how to counteract the pill that they just gave you with this other pill, and to be careful taking that other pill because it needs to be taken with this pill....

My doc is a GP. DOs usually are.

 

[Prometheus]

Read your own link.

"direct the Department of Health and Human Services to ask (not require) physicians and hospitals to ask new patients and patients being admitted into hospitals for things like same day surgeries about firearms in the home.

You read part of the first paragraph, which is talking about the executive actions did you read the rest of it?

Did you read the second paragraph?

 

[level.eleven]

No such thing as a general practitioner, now they're all specialists... So instead of telling you what you did wrong, they tell you how to counteract the pill that they just gave you with this other pill, and to be careful taking that other pill because it needs to be taken with this pill....

No they don't. This is pure hysteria. Every cardiologist is going to tell you to stop doing what you are doing and to lose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking, and get some appropriate exercise. They will prescribe medication because it has proven to work. I've taken all my children to our GP. They have never seen a specialist. If the GP were to recommend a specialists, I would seek their assistance. The only time he did, he set up some surgery because I had an infected cyst on my ass, close to the starfish. Had to be packed. This is how you know you married the right woman.

This is why you should go to the doctor. I could have avoided a situation if I hadn't been stubborn. If it hurts, go to the doctor. Get you screenings for curable disease. My kids have a grandfather because of early prostate cancer screening and colon cancer screening. Tell your doctor if you family has a history of heart disease.

 

[HenryWallace]

My doc is a GP. DOs usually are.

We can't all be as fortunate as you to have doctors that don't kill you like they did to my brother (Prescribed Anti Depressants led to suicide), Grandmother (Died of Chemo), former boss (Died from Chemo Guinea pig for John's Hopkins ), sister (Failed heart Operation), and my Uncle is now dying from mis-diagnosed medication for Parkinson's. Last night one of my best friends child died as a result of a faulty operation after he drowned and was resuscitated. How else do you get water out of the lungs??? NOT FREAKING OPERATION! So there will be no more of this if I can help it. NO more guinea pig treatments. No more big pharma telling me what's good for me... It has to stop somewhere...

Next thing I'll hear is that they'd rather cure you from Cancer than treat you for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.

 

[churchmouse]

We can't all be as fortunate as you to have doctors that don't kill you like they did to my brother (Prescribed Anti Depressants led to suicide), Grandmother (Died of Chemo), former boss (Died from Chemo Guinea pig for John's Hopkins ), sister (Failed heart Operation), and my Uncle is now dying from mis-diagnosed medication for Parkinson's. Last night one of my best friends child died as a result of a faulty operation after he drowned and was resuscitated. How else do you get water out of the lungs??? NOT FREAKING OPERATION! So there will be no more of this if I can help it. NO more guinea pig treatments. No more big pharma telling me what's good for me... It has to stop somewhere...

I make no light of your loss but I too have found truth in the phrase...Practicing medicine.
Specialist tried their best to kill me with the wrong Chemo. Drs. at IUPUI saved my bacon. Literally.

 

[HenryWallace]

I make no light of your loss but I too have found truth in the phrase...Practicing medicine.
Specialist tried their best to kill me with the wrong Chemo. Drs. at IUPUI saved my bacon. Literally.

And I do understand that they're not all bad, in the same sense, not everyone is bad. I haven't lost faith in all medicine, Just as I haven't lost faith in all people, That's why I'm here in INGO!
I just know what has worked for me, and what has taken life from me.

 

[churchmouse]

And I do understand that they're not all bad, in the same sense, not everyone is bad. I haven't lost faith in all medicine, Just as I haven't lost faith in all people, That's why I'm here in INGO!
I just know what has worked for me, and what has taken life from me.

The key is to find a group that is past the practicing stage.
Lost my oldest son to those who are just practicing. We have all lost someone.

 

[88GT]

We can't all be as fortunate as you

Well, actually you can. But you have to be a little more proactive in your health care decisions. Caveat emptor applies just as much in medicine as it does in purchasing consumer goods or anything else.

to have doctors that don't kill you like they did to my brother (Prescribed Anti Depressants led to suicide), Grandmother (Died of Chemo), former boss (Died from Chemo Guinea pig for John's Hopkins ), sister (Failed heart Operation), and my Uncle is now dying from mis-diagnosed medication for Parkinson's. Last night one of my best friends child died as a result of a faulty operation after he drowned and was resuscitated. How else do you get water out of the lungs??? NOT FREAKING OPERATION! So there will be no more of this if I can help it. NO more guinea pig treatments. No more big pharma telling me what's good for me... It has to stop somewhere...

With the exception of the error in the pharmaceutical, there wasn't a treatment you described that wasn't voluntarily accepted by the individual. No one to blame but the individual who gave his consent.

 

[HenryWallace]

The key is to find a group that is past the practicing stage.
Lost my oldest son to those who are just practicing. We have all lost someone.

And we will continue the trend if something or someone doesn't disrupt the system, because no one is making them anymore.

 

[HenryWallace]

Well, actually you can. But you have to be a little more proactive in your health care decisions. Caveat emptor applies just as much in medicine as it does in purchasing consumer goods or anything else.


With the exception of the error in the pharmaceutical, there wasn't a treatment you described that wasn't voluntarily accepted by the individual. No one to blame but the individual who gave his consent.

One death, MY BROTHER, is enough to change my entire life, and who has the right to debate the med community when they have the right to report you to the .gov when you do?
The others did because their FU$%^&G doctor told them it was the right thing to do.
There are alternatives to ( Medical Error | The Number Three Cause of Death in the United States ) putting your life and your loved one in the hands of a 'medical professional' that doesn't know you, doesn't care about you, and makes money off of your treatment.

 

[Prometheus]

putting your life and your loved one in the hands of a 'medical professional' that doesn't know you, doesn't care about you, and makes money off of your treatment.

Doesn't know you - So?

Doesn't care about you - Completely subjective. I have many friends who are physicians and know hundreds more. Most do care. The overwhelming majority in fact.

Makes money off your treatment - You mean to say after 8 years of school and fellowships up to 7 years in length they shouldn't be allowed to earn an income appropriate for their level of education and expertise?

Now none of that means they are competent in their profession. After all, what do you call some one who graduated last in their medical school? Yeah, Doctor.

One of the worst things to happen in medicine is government. Want to pissed? Blame them.... and the AMA but that's another topic.

 

[88GT]

There are alternatives to ( Medical Error | The Number Three Cause of Death in the United States ) putting your life and your loved one in the hands of a 'medical professional' that doesn't know you, doesn't care about you, and makes money off of your treatment.

Yes, there are. It's called being proactive and not accepting a treatment just because the guy in the white coat with a particular pair of letters after his name recommended it.

I understand your frustration, anger, grief. I'm not trying to minimize your loss in any way. But there is no more culpability on the doctors' part (barring the gross negligence of error) for suggesting a path and having someone take it than there is in Joe telling John to go jump off a bridge, only to have John comply and die for his efforts. Would you blame Joe for it? Why do you blame the docs?

Do patients have zero responsibility for their choices? Are we not to hold them accountable for any of their consent?

I will be the first to admit that there is a gross lack of true informed consent in the medical field. But I don't naively believe that doctors exist for the sole purpose of prolonging my life or making it better. They offer a service. Nothing more. If I cannot be discriminating enough to figure out a way to evaluate that service, then I have no one to blame but myself if I accept that service and in my ignorance find out that it was subpar.

There is no excuse in this day and age for not getting more information, for not becoming the expert before moving ahead with decisions. Moving forward without doing this necessarily means accepting the risk of doing so. That includes accepting the risk that the medical care provider doesn't know any more than you do.

 

[kolob10]

Physicians and gun possesion

Years ago, my wife was out of town and my 12 year old daughter had a physical exam scheduled. I took off work and drove her to the appointment. The physician (male) said I could not accompany my daughter to the exam room as he needed to ask her a few questions. I insisted that he have a female nurse present when he was in the room with my daughter. He inquired as to why I would ask that of him. I replied to protect my daughter. He became agitated and said he was a professional - I replied that I was pulling rank on him as I was a father. He and a nurse took my daughter into a room and asked her why I was with her that day. She replied that her mother was out of town. He asked her how her relationship was with her dad? She replied it was fine. I was invited back into the room as the doctor stepped out for a minute. My daughter shared her conversation that she had with the doctor. He entered the room once again and asked me if there was any firearms in my house. I asked him if he used illegal drugs. He said he inquired concerning the guns for the safety of the children. I replied that I asked him of his drug use for the safety of his children. Needless to say, neither answered the question. He was agitated and my daughter received a new doctor the next week.

Doctors in the course of their practice are responsible for more deaths than gun related deaths.

Now I asked myself, Where is the greater threat?

Doctors should confine their "practice" to medicine. I'll confine my practice to my gun range.

 

[level.eleven]

No such thing as a general practitioner, now they're all specialists... So instead of telling you what you did wrong, they tell you how to counteract the pill that they just gave you with this other pill, and to be careful taking that other pill because it needs to be taken with this pill....

As I said, a mad man.

Do not listen to him, INGO.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Let's see... Who do I believe? Snopes, a trusted anti-hoax site? Or a blog site no one has ever heard of. I trust Snopes. 13C? Not so much. It was a nice try to try to (right off the bat) discredit Snopes by claiming old information. Guess that was 13C's only hope at any credibility. Spectacular fail...

I have seen examples of Snopes lying even in the face of hard evidence in the past. You may trust them, but I sure don't. This comes from the same vein as CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN being 'reliable' (in spite of the thin or nonexistent veneer they put on their political motives), but FOX isn't.

 

[level.eleven]

Yes, there are. It's called being proactive and not accepting a treatment just because the guy in the white coat with a particular pair of letters after his name recommended it.

I understand your frustration, anger, grief. I'm not trying to minimize your loss in any way. But there is no more culpability on the doctors' part (barring the gross negligence of error) for suggesting a path and having someone take it than there is in Joe telling John to go jump off a bridge, only to have John comply and die for his efforts. Would you blame Joe for it? Why do you blame the docs?

Do patients have zero responsibility for their choices? Are we not to hold them accountable for any of their consent?

I will be the first to admit that there is a gross lack of true informed consent in the medical field. But I don't naively believe that doctors exist for the sole purpose of prolonging my life or making it better. They offer a service. Nothing more. If I cannot be discriminating enough to figure out a way to evaluate that service, then I have no one to blame but myself if I accept that service and in my ignorance find out that it was subpar.

There is no excuse in this day and age for not getting more information, for not becoming the expert before moving ahead with decisions. Moving forward without doing this necessarily means accepting the risk of doing so. That includes accepting the risk that the medical care provider doesn't know any more than you do.

Is it okay to get you information from Jenny McCarthy?

 

[IndyDave1776]

Is it okay to get you information from Jenny McCarthy?

This reminds me of the GMO thread, and the arguments over whether concern is justified. I stand by the principle that it is our right to make the decisions for ourselves (and by extension our children) of how to maintain our health for the reasons we consider applicable. When you stop and thing about some of the horrible things that have happened to people from certain medications over time, it leads a person that listening to Jenny McCarthy may not be any more unreasonable than listening to people who may be putting the profit motive above one's health and well-being.

 

[GunnerDan]

It's kind of funny, because my doctor and I talk about going hunting and shooting every time I go. The last time I went he even commented about my new DeSantis holster I was wearing. As for some kind of a government crony doctor asking about guns in the home, my standard answer would be "None of your F'ing business!"

Gunner

 

[Hunter58]

I took my sick child to the doctor once and was asked if I had any firearms in the house. My response was Why? Are you a gunsmith also, maybe your not the right one to help my child. End of questions from them.

 

[jamil]

The doctor asks you this in the portion of the visit called a "Patient History". The specific subsection of the History that the question lies under is the "Prevention and Safety" section. In the very same section the doctor will also ask questions like, " Do you drive? if so do you wear a seat-belt?" The point of asking about whether you own guns is to ask a follow up question like, "Do you practice firearm safety? Keep them locked or in a place that is not accessible to children?"
The primary purpose is to ensure that you are thinking about gun safety.

That said there are times that knowing about gun ownership does come into play in medicine. Assuming that this is your general practitioner asking about gun ownership, and that you have a decent relationship with your GP (not likely now that docs can barely give you 15 min), he may bring it up if he thinks talking about it might best preserve your safety and the safety of people around you. For example, you have uncontrolled diabetes and you begin loosing vision and the ability to feel in your fingertips. The doctor, knowing that you have firearms may be concerned that you may not be able to distinguish who you are pointing your gun at and how much pressure you are placing on that trigger. All the doctor can do in this situation is ask whether you are still keeping a firearm around and whether you are being safe with your reduced vision and touch-sensation. The doctor has no power to report you or have your guns taken away, UNLESS you give any indication that you might hurt yourself or others.

About whether you have to answer truthfully. The information you give your doctor only helps him know about risks and helps him put the puzzle pieces together. If you lie about guns, it may never affect you. You can also lie about STDs, how many sex partners you have and your sex practices, smoking habits, drinking habits, etc. but these lies may seriously impact the ability for your doctor to identify risks and make connections to your health status. Not telling the truth about guns probably won't make your doctor miss that Hepatitis B infection, lying about sex/intravenous drug use might.

Alright, i have typed too much.

I appreciate that you took the time to type it up.

But I'll likely answer questions like "Do you Drive?", "Do you wear safety belts?", "Do you own guns?" with something similar to "you're my physician, not my nanny."