This is very common. Pediatricians across the country are asking this question.
They also ask personal questions of kids who are old enough to see the doctor without a parent present.
It's one of several "standard" questions. I lie, and the kids know to, as well. It's a big joke with us.
As for a doctor choosing to dump a patient over refusal to answer, I'd file a formal complaint with the licensing board. It's a non-medical question, you have no obligation to answer (and indeed, a false answer does not affect a course of treatment), so the doctor lacks sound basis for terminating the health care relationship.
It's unfortunate, but in general, a patient should not presume a doctor is trustworthy. Doctors have as much or more power to have a person incarcerated as police do; and can also initiate removal of a child from the home. Be guarded in your conversations.
There is no "kid" old enough to be seen by a doctor without a parent present. If they're that old, you're not their legal guardian anymore. Plus, have you heard all the stories of doctors sexually molesting their patients? That sure won't be going on with a parent in the room.
This question comes up at every visit with my children’s pediatrician. I always say “no” because it is none of their business. The last time the doctor was talking to my youngest about riding his bike. She asked him if he wore a helmet, and he was honest and said “no”. I told her that I gave up trying to get my boys, who are 12 and 13, to wear a helmet. She looked at my son, as if I weren’t sitting there, and said, “Well if I was your mother—if *I* was your mother, I wouldn’t let you ride your bike without a helmet. I would be worried about you getting a head injury.” I couldn’t believe what she was insinuating, and I could feel my cheeks getting red. She had been his pediatrician from birth, but that was the LAST straw for me.
Freaking lib.