Posted on 06/06/2011 5:28:16 PM PDT by PROCON
LOL!
Sorry - unless they have taken the training and are proficient in firearms - they have no right or privilege discussing whether or not I should own a firearm. Something along the lines of malpractice should be made.
I can’t find the PDF version or the MSWord version right now. When I find one of them I’ll post it or the link. But here is a form to give any doctor who asks about your guns.
FIREARMS SAFETY COUNSELING REPRESENTATION:
PHYSICIAN QUALIFICATIONS AND LIABILITY
Part One: Qualifications
I affirm that I am certified to offer (Name of Patient: ), herineafter referred to as “the Patient”, qualified advice about firearms safety in the home, having received:
Specify Course(s) of Study:
__________________________________________________ _______________________
from:
Specify Institution(s)
__________________________________________________ _______________________
on:
Specify Course Completion Date(s):
__________________________________________________ _______________________
resulting in:
Specify Accreditation(s), Certification(s), License(s) etc.:
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
Check one, as appropriate:
___
I represent that I have reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private
firearms ownership. I further represent that I have reviewed all other relevant home safety issues with the Patient, including those relating to electricity, drains, disposals, compactors, garage doors, driveway safety, pool safety, pool fence codes and special locks for pool gates, auto safety, gas, broken glass, stored cleaning chemicals, buckets, toilets, sharp objects, garden tools, home tools, power tools, lawnmowers, lawn chemicals, scissors, needles, forks, knives, etc. I also acknowledge, by receiving this document, I have been made aware that, in his inaugural address before the American Medical Association on June 20, 2001, new president Richard Corlin, MD, admitted “What we don’t know about violence and guns is literally killing us...researchers do not have the data to tell how kids get guns, if trigger locks work, what the warning signs of violence in schools and at the workplace are and other critical questions due to lack of research funding.” (UPI). In spite of this admission, I represent that I have sufficient data and expertise to provide expert and clinically sound advice to patients regarding firearms in the home.
OR
___
I am knowingly engaging in Home/Firearms Safety Counseling without certification, license or formal training in Risk
Management, and; I have not reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private firearms ownership.
Part Two: Liability
I have determined, from a review of my medical malpractice insurance, that if I engage in an activity for which I am not certified, such as Firearms Safety Counseling, the carrier (check one, as appropriate):
___ will
___ will not
cover lawsuits resulting from neglect, lack of qualification, etc.
Insurance Carrier name, address and policy number insuring me for firearms safety expertise:
__________________________________________________ _______________________
I further warrant that, should the Patient follow my firearm safety counseling and remove from the home and/or disable firearms with trigger locks or other mechanisms, and if the patient or a family member, friend or visitor is subsequently injured or killed as a result of said removal or disabling, that my malpractice insurance and/or personal assets will cover all actual and punitive damages resulting from a lawsuit initiated by the patient, the patient’s legal reprerentative, or the patient’s survivors.
Signature of attesting physician and date: __________________________________________________
Name of attesting physician (please print):___________________________________________ _______
Signature of patient and date: __________________________________________________ __________
Name of patient (please print):___________________________________________ _________________
Patient:
Indicate if physician “REFUSED TO SIGN.” Have physician place a copy in your chart/medical record.
Doctors have every right to question gun ownership.
**********************************************************
It is an ethical boundary violation for them to ask.
“A boundary violation takes place when a physician breaches the patient’s trust and uses his authority to advance a political agenda.”
http://www.aapsonline.org/jpands/hacienda/edcor8.html
http://www.jpands.org/hacienda/article14.html
Thanks for the info!
You’re welcome. I thought that form was on the Second Amendment Sisters site or the RKBA site but I couldn’t find it on either.
I’m away from my desk computer for a few days but I’m pretty sure I have that form bookmarked on that. I’ll look and post the link if I do. It prints nicely from the from a good link.
About 15 years ago, I went to an ENT specialist to evaluate my tinnitus (ringing in the ears). After performing the exam he asked me about my work environment, if I used firearms as well as questions about lawn mowers, etc., to which I accurately responded.
He proceeded to tell me about progressive hearing damage caused by the aforementioned. I thought the questions/comments were reasonable until he started asking me how many rounds of each type of firearm I had fired over the years. I felt that the followup was of questionable relevance. He did not ask if I owned firearms.
I suspect he was an anti-gunner (I was living in Communist California at the time). However, I do believe that some firearms questions directly related to an “active/current” physical or mental health issue are legitimate. Exploratory BS questions on the other hand, are just that - BS, but I would be a lot more worried about shysters than doctors. They are the real dregs of society.
Doctors counseling patients on gun safety. LOL! Only if they’ll let the NRA counsel them on surgery.
So where do the questions stop if the doctor has little Johnny away from his parents and gets an affirmative answer to whether or not there are guns in the house?
Do they then probe if they are locked? Can little Johnny get to them? Has Daddy ever threatened Mommy while holding a gun? Has Daddy ever pointed a gun at Mommy?
Does Daddy ever talk bad about the president? Has Johnny ever heard the term ‘tea party’ or ‘militia’ in his house?
And of course Johnny being 6yo gives all correct answers.
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I must admit I lost a lot of respect for my doctor and doctors in general when they first asked me about guns in my house.
I don't know if they do or they don't. I can see some circumstances under which this could be a reasonable question.
But doctors have absolutely no business kicking patients out of their practice because they don't like the answer or because they don't like the fact that the patient doesn't answer at all. And this is about politics. No one should think it isn't.
Since doctors have taken action against patients who politics they dislike, though - kicking patients out of their practices, this law is the result.
This is one of those, "Since you didn't act reasonably, the government is here to control your behavior" sorts of things which could have been avoided had the doctors acted with common sense and equanimity.
Florida doctors defend right to discuss guns with patientsI'd like to 'discuss guns' with my Dr. Like....
'Hey Doc, quit charging so much for an office visit, I want to get a 1911. :-)But 'series', I think my Dr would be afraid to ask me about guns. In all the years I've had him, about nine now, he still calls me 'Mister ____', and I've asked him time after time to drop the 'Mister' and call me by my first name.
(Yep, he's on the 'young' side. But I like him, he's pretty cool. When we talk about my field, Construction Engineering, his eyes glaze over -- like I'm speaking Estonian.)
My doc gets one a week.
ping for later project
No, I would not.
And pediatricians aren't the only medical “professionals” with access to minor children, who thought it was a damn fine idea to create a database of gun ownership, are they?
A gun is an inanimate object, much like a knife, chains, baseball bats,golf clubs, pills etc... Are you starting to see the possibilities of potentially lethal objects here?
Do you compile reports of patient ownership of those items?
Perhaps you would get over your “need” to ask about guns, if you just take it as granted, that every patient you encounter has at least two potential “weapons” in their home.
After all, if a patient is at risk of becoming homicidal or suicidal, the list of objects that could be used is virtually endless.
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