So, yeah, Doctors...

[Father of four]

So... You sit?

None ya business...

 

[Father of four]

It's considered preventive care. I like to check cholesterol levels before the patient has a heart attack, rather than after its too late. Like I said, it's a bigger question if the docs should even bother on firearms. I don't ask my patients unless we are comparing hardware. I don't ask my patients if they wear seat belts. I do offer advice if they ask about preventive testing.

If someone refuses to answer a question I don't mark "yes". I just don't record anything.

Why even take the kids in for a well child check? Just wait until they get sick. That's an option too

None of my colleagues are gun grabbin secret Obama Gestapo. We just want to see our patients healthy

I agree and understand where you are coming from. I have no problem with you trying to be a good doctor and you caring for your patients. Thank God for you and people like you!!!

Having doctors asking their patients about them owning firearms...well that is another matter all together. Sorry, I do not think a Dr. should also be trying to fill the shoes of government officials, or government informants.

 

[pchewn]

Well, the problem is they are ASKING what you currently do. They should be OFFERING information to you such as:

"Here are several brochures on keeping your kids safe and healthy, feel free to take them all or any of them."

(Brochures with gun safety tips, stop-smoking and second-hand smoke dangers, keeping power tools away from little kids, how to train your kid to watch out for traffic, how to store medicine and keep other poisons away from kids, etc.. etc....)

Maybe a brochure that tells how to prevent your kids from being infected with mental disorders -- like liberalism.

 

[bolus]

The studies I could find show that if a pediatrician discusses firearm safety, more people invest in safes and trigger locks at home. I could not find any studies that show counselling reduces firearm related injuries at home. But I did not spend a lot of time researching. The same thing happens in smokers. If a doc recommends that someone quits they are more likely to quit than if the doc does not mention it. Some people would say yes we should be paternalistic and protect our patients from themselves, others would say let them do what they want.

I believe in whats called shared decision making. I list out options for testing or treatment or counseling and the patient decides what they want to do. But its difficult with some patients because you know they are making dumb decisions.

For example, I have this patient, he's 65 and has a lot of medical problems like diabetes and heart disease. He was tired during the day so he started using Meth. He honestly thought it wasnt any different than having a cup of coffee. Its certainly up to him if he wants to use meth but I felt really compelled to explain to him that at his age and with a heart condition he really should not be using meth like it was coffee.

Funny side note, I had a patient put me down as a reference for their CHL. One of the questions is "has this applicant ever been institutionalized or received treatment for mental illness or alcoholism." Well, he is a recovering alcoholic and Im treating him for depression. I would also think he is perfectly safe having a CHL. So I called him up and said I either tell the truth which would most likely keep him from getting the CHL (and would be a HIPAA violation) or a lie which made me a little too uncomfortable. So I told him to make my wife a reference for him (she knows him, but does not have access to his medical records)

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Allopathic witchdoctors are the very last place I would go for health, and flu shots are insanity. Many who get them actually get the flu as a result, and these poisons hammer your natural immune system, long term causing cancer and many other dire results

They only know how to burn, cut or poison although some of them are waking up to natural medicine and prevention, which is far more powerful

 

[fyrediver]

The Affordable Care Act and the subsequent Executive orders issued by Obama allows (and I'm sure will "encourage" them) Drs to investigate whether or not there are firearms in the home with a child. Remember that there is a movement in the extreme liberal side of medicine that views gun ownership as a disease. This may be the Dr just getting ahead of the curve in his Federal reporting.

Item 16:
» Obama?s 23 executive orders: Doctors become snitches, gun ownership is a ?disease? and more Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

 

[bolus]

Seriously, in 20 years in medicine I've heard one physician talk about guns and that was a conference at Harborview on gun shot wounds. I've never had a colleague even discuss counseling on guns in the office. I've never met one physician who has said even anything about taking guns away or snitching on patients.

We are, for the most part, very strong believers in the patient doctor relationship. How many people do I see every day that use illegal drugs? Probably 3 or 4 that tell me. How many have I reported to the police? Zero. My job is not to police my patients. If we snitched out every patient who would come and see us to get help? My dedication is to the patient. And every doctor I've worked with has had the same ethic.

The executive order says there will be to federal prosecution if I report patients but that does not clear me from malpractice or civil lawsuits, or breach of HIPAA even if I wanted to report on my patients.

I'd encourage anyone to avoid a physician that reports one their patients.

 

[mjbskwim]

I will tell them that it is absolutely none of their business. They may have the right to ask. I have the right not to answer.

Of course they will take this as a "yes",so the proper answer is "no"
And tell the kids to say the same,not "My daddy told me to tell you that it's none of your business."

 

[Squidly]

Allopathic witchdoctors are the very last place I would go for health, and flu shots are insanity. Many who get them actually get the flu as a result, and these poisons hammer your natural immune system, long term causing cancer and many other dire results

They only know how to burn, cut or poison although some of them are waking up to natural medicine and prevention, which is far more powerful

That is true of many MD treatment, but there are some things that MDs do extremely well, like set broken bones, stitch up gashes, repair bullet holes, etc. If you need one, there is no substitute. For general health maintenance I go to a Naturopath.

 

[CoastRange57]

It's considered preventive care. I like to check cholesterol levels before the patient has a heart attack, rather than after its too late. Like I said, it's a bigger question if the docs should even bother on firearms. I don't ask my patients unless we are comparing hardware. I don't ask my patients if they wear seat belts. I do offer advice if they ask about preventive testing.

If someone refuses to answer a question I don't mark "yes". I just don't record anything.

Why even take the kids in for a well child check? Just wait until they get sick. That's an option too

None of my colleagues are gun grabbin secret Obama Gestapo. We just want to see our patients healthy

Other questions that could / should be asked:

Do you drive over the speed limit ?
Do you have any beer, wine/ hard liquor in your house ?
Do you engage in sports like sky diving, drag racing, rock climbing ?
Do you walk on the correct side of the road ?
Do you run red lights ?
Do you hike on trails with steep sides on them ?
Do you run on sidewalks or in the street?
Do you wear eye protection and hearing protection at work?
Do you use mass transit ?
Do you go to dinner in strange parts of town ?
Do you hang glide ?


Just saying that the gun question being asked..why not these other ones since they all have some element of risk ?

 

[hermannr]

I think you could respond with, "are you taking a survey", then if they say yes, ask "what is this survey to be used for?' and "does this have something to do with my treatment?" then "why are you wasting your time and mine asking questions that are not relavent to my treatment?" About that time they should have lost interest in the question.

 

[bolus]

Other questions that could / should be asked:

Do you drive over the speed limit ?
Do you have any beer, wine/ hard liquor in your house ?
Do you engage in sports like sky diving, drag racing, rock climbing ?
Do you walk on the correct side of the road ?
Do you run red lights ?
Do you hike on trails with steep sides on them ?
Do you run on sidewalks or in the street?
Do you wear eye protection and hearing protection at work?
Do you use mass transit ?
Do you go to dinner in strange parts of town ?
Do you hang glide ?


Just saying that the gun question being asked..why not these other ones since they all have some element of risk ?

I walked down and talked to a couple of our pediatricians. They say that the pediatric guidelines suggest counseling once a year on firearms and the counseling just involves home safety like safe storage

The reason its done is because accidents are the leading cause of death in kids under 18 and a firearm related death is 5th on the list.

There is no reporting of people who have firearms anywhere other than the chart which is under HIPAA privacy protection.

There is no secret list of patients with firearms that are shared with the government. There is no motive to take away firearms, just a recommendation that they are secured when kids are around.

 

[CoastRange57]

There is no reporting of people who have firearms anywhere other than the chart which is under HIPAA privacy protection.

Not hacking on you here Doc, at all because you sound very reasonable. Those chart notes are completely available under a subpoena or court order. Some of us just feel that the government is just intruding into our lives a little bit to much, and in some pretty obtuse ways.

Where did this asking about guns by medical professionals come from anyway, since it seems pretty universal ?

 

[bolus]

Not hacking on you here Doc, at all because you sound very reasonable. Those chart notes are completely available under a subpoena or court order. Some of us just feel that the government is just intruding into our lives a little bit to much, and in some pretty obtuse ways.

Where did this asking about guns by medical professionals come from anyway, since it seems pretty universal ?

Oh I agree, and if something like NY happens here I am not reporting my patients to the government. Though I think forced registration is such an easier way to find out who has firearms rather than getting a court order for medical records.

I dont think the firearm question is new, just may be more apparent with recent events. I was taught back in med school 20 years ago to ask about guns if my patient was suicidal.

 

[oknow]

Well, the problem is they are ASKING what you currently do. They should be OFFERING information to you such as:

"Here are several brochures on keeping your kids safe and healthy, feel free to take them all or any of them."

(Brochures with gun safety tips, stop-smoking and second-hand smoke dangers, keeping power tools away from little kids, how to train your kid to watch out for traffic, how to store medicine and keep other poisons away from kids, etc.. etc....)

Maybe a brochure that tells how to prevent your kids from being infected with mental disorders -- like liberalism.

 

[oknow]

The studies I could find show that if a pediatrician discusses firearm safety, more people invest in safes and trigger locks at home. I could not find any studies that show counselling reduces firearm related injuries at home. But I did not spend a lot of time researching. The same thing happens in smokers. If a doc recommends that someone quits they are more likely to quit than if the doc does not mention it. Some people would say yes we should be paternalistic and protect our patients from themselves, others would say let them do what they want.

I believe in whats called shared decision making. I list out options for testing or treatment or counseling and the patient decides what they want to do. But its difficult with some patients because you know they are making dumb decisions.

For example, I have this patient, he's 65 and has a lot of medical problems like diabetes and heart disease. He was tired during the day so he started using Meth. He honestly thought it wasnt any different than having a cup of coffee. Its certainly up to him if he wants to use meth but I felt really compelled to explain to him that at his age and with a heart condition he really should not be using meth like it was coffee.

Funny side note, I had a patient put me down as a reference for their CHL. One of the questions is "has this applicant ever been institutionalized or received treatment for mental illness or alcoholism." Well, he is a recovering alcoholic and Im treating him for depression. I would also think he is perfectly safe having a CHL. So I called him up and said I either tell the truth which would most likely keep him from getting the CHL (and would be a HIPAA violation) or a lie which made me a little too uncomfortable. So I told him to make my wife a reference for him (she knows him, but does not have access to his medical records)

the difference is he brought the subject up and you answered. we are talking about doctors asking the question with out the patient bringing the subject up

 

[oknow]

Other questions that could / should be asked:

Do you drive over the speed limit ?
Do you have any beer, wine/ hard liquor in your house ?
Do you engage in sports like sky diving, drag racing, rock climbing ?
Do you walk on the correct side of the road ?
Do you run red lights ?
Do you hike on trails with steep sides on them ?
Do you run on sidewalks or in the street?
Do you wear eye protection and hearing protection at work?
Do you use mass transit ?
Do you go to dinner in strange parts of town ?
Do you hang glide ?


Just saying that the gun question being asked..why not these other ones since they all have some element of risk ?

I walked down and talked to a couple of our pediatricians. They say that the pediatric guidelines suggest counseling once a year on firearms and the counseling just involves home safety like safe storage

The reason its done is because accidents are the leading cause of death in kids under 18 and a firearm related death is 5th on the list.

There is no reporting of people who have firearms anywhere other than the chart which is under HIPAA privacy protection.

There is no secret list of patients with firearms that are shared with the government. There is no motive to take away firearms, just a recommendation that they are secured when kids are around.

like stated above the safety factor is a lot more risker for the kids so why aren't these questions being asked?

 

[Ligito]

snopes.com: Medicare Requires Doctors to Ask Patients About Guns?

 

[bolus]

Some questions are being asked but a lot are probably omitted because of lack of time. Someone once calculated that if I worked on only doing preventive testing and counseling (getting cholesterols done, mammograms, discussing quitting smoking, vaccines,etc) it would take 11 hours per day. And that's not even addressing why patients are coming in. Its the reason I dont ask people if they wear seat belts or use smoke detectors or drive angry, I dont have any time to do that in a 15 minute appointment.

Some of it is driven by our experience. If I see 3 patients in a week with new diagnosis of breast cancer, it is fresh in my mind and I am probably much more likely to push that to the top of the list of preventive topics to discuss. If a pediatrician has seen several kids shot, it has a strong emotional factor and they want to keep the kids safe. Just like how it drives emotions in the media....

I think you are trying to ask if there is an ulterior motive here. Is someone in the government or insurance pushing docs to ask about guns. In my experience, no. I've not heard about any such thing. I think if that happened, the first place I would be is here, rustling up some outrage

 

[oknow]

double post