POLL: Has a doctor ever asked you about guns?

[ironpony]

I recently had a new doc apt and was not asked. I asked him about wether he is supposed to ask or not and he said "we are told to ask" then explained that it is so that if a patient comes in and he believes you are a danger they would "not let you leave" and have patient call a friend to remove firearms from the home, and probably provide whatever help docs would in a given instance. Nothing about reporting the answer and he did not seem to concerned at all other than for safety. But a decent Dr. So I took off my tinfoil hat and left.

 

[FrankOceanXray]

Internist/Family Practice. Yearly physical.

I did answer, seeing it was obvious given my career, with a very enthusiastic affirmative. He then went on to ask how they were stored. It popped my balloon, and I let him know I secure any and all appropriately.

 

[Dreago]

Pediatrician's MA asked when filling out paperwork. It caught me off guard, so I hesitated and the jig was up, so I lied........said yes, but we only have a BB gun in the house. That's what she actually put on the form, too.

My Internal Med. doc has never asked me though.

 

[ThisGuy918]

I have been asked twice. Both times the answer was no and I answered quickly. No chance for follow ups or additional questions.

 

[Minuteman]

Doctors already have a professional and legal obligation to notify police if they believe patient is suicidal or an imminent threat to others.

Routinely asking patients if they own guns is way out of bounds, will only piss a lot of gun owners off compromise the doctor-patient relationship; I'm already pissed, and I haven't been asked yet.

Some of us on this forum - we don't ask one another what guns they own or if they are carrying. It's rude to do so.

Why a doctor would act as an agent of the government and work against their patients interests is beyond my comprehension. Unless they too have been brainwashed by the media and gun grabbing politicians.

"Does the patient have firearms at home?"

 

[Minuteman]

The American Academy of Pediatrics is clearly anti-gun. The AAP supports all the socialist 'lefty' positions, including “federal firearms legislation that bans assault weapon sales and the sales of high capacity magazines” and “the strongest possible regulations of handguns for civilian use.” The AAP suggests to parents “NEVER have a gun in the home” (“NEVER” capitalized in their statement). Their website also cites the now-discredited 1986 claim that, “A gun kept in the home is 43 times more likely to kill someone known to the family than to kill someone in self-defense.”

While at the same time, a child is 100x more likely to die in a swimming pool than via a firearm [Source : book- Freakonomics]. The AAP isn't lobbying to ban pools or enforce strict regulations against them; instead they encourage parents to teach kids to swim and practice safety around pools. They go on to say, you may not own a pool; but your kids may visit a neighbor who has a pool, so knowledge is important. Why don't they give the same reasonable advice about guns?

Why aren't we teaching firearm safety in every school in America?

 

[teratos]

So much for evidence based medicine.

 

[a1911guy]

Yes, my pediatrician asked my wife if there were guns in the house. When asked why they wanted to know the response was so they could check for lead levels in their blood. It was also on a paper form we had to fill out.

Answer was no both times.

 

[mike_in_md]

The way I see it is that gun safety is already instructed at the gun shop or gun range. My doctor is not going to be able to teach people safety better than what is already taught by gun professionals.

What is interesting is that if I told my doctor that I have guns and reload is that they might add a lead test for blood work. My health insurance doesn't allow reimbursement for this blood test, and if I go over a certain blood limit I would get a call from the government asking me what caused it. I would rather that the form ask a general question such as "have you been exposed to lead?" and for the doctor to know if that test is covered by insurance since the test will cost about 4 to 5 hundred dollars. If the insurance plan doesn't cover lead treatment, why should the doctors/government ask about gun ownership?

Two questions for the doctors. What counseling does the AMA tell you to tell a patient, and what reporting are you required to report?

 

[teratos]

The way I see it is that gun safety is already instructed at the gun shop or gun range. My doctor is not going to be able to teach people safety better than what is already taught by gun professionals.

What is interesting is that if I told my doctor that I have guns and reload is that they might add a lead test for blood work. My health insurance doesn't allow reimbursement for this blood test, and if I go over a certain blood limit I would get a call from the government asking me what caused it. I would rather that the form ask a general question such as "have you been exposed to lead?" and for the doctor to know if that test is covered by insurance since the test will cost about 4 to 5 hundred dollars. If the insurance plan doesn't cover lead treatment, why should the doctors/government ask about gun ownership?

I have never had a problem with reimbursements for blood lead levels. You just need to code it correctly. Unless your insurance really sucks it should be covered.

FWIW, I have tested several people who reload and shoot a lot, all have come back on the lower end of normal.

 

[mike_in_md]

I have never had a problem with reimbursements for blood lead levels. You just need to code it correctly. Unless your insurance really sucks it should be covered.

FWIW, I have tested several people who reload and shoot a lot, all have come back on the lower end of normal.

My test was a little higher than normal a couple years ago and I thought I was always very careful around lead and washing. I am not sure if it was related to shooting more than 15k rounds per year for many years, or reloading. Other people I shoot with shot more rounds than I and even cast bullets and their tests were normal. Any ideas? Maybe it is clothes or shoes need to be cleaned sooner?

 

[FrankZ]

Any ideas? Maybe it is clothes or shoes need to be cleaned sooner?

Stop licking painted walls?

 

[Ironsighter]

Nurse at a doc-in-the-box asked about guns and domestic violence...when taking a history when I went in for a swollen foot from a tick bite.

 

[SRD]

Never.With 3 kids ranging from 7 to 25 (same mother ) and multiple pediatricians and insurance changes it's never been asked.The 2 oldest and the wifey have been instructed to not answer anything not related to the reason for the visit though.

 

[sgt23preston]

My Daughter in Law gets asked about "guns in the house" every year by her children's Pediatrician...

I don't object to "safety training" counseling or NRA Safety Bulletins being handed out, but I do worry about what happens to the "Yes we do" data going to Big Brother aka Mikey Bloomberg...

BTW Daughter in Law is a Very Liberal Lawyer...

 

[tsmith1499]

Doctor, no. Form they use to update their records, yes.

 

[Docster]

I'm retired Military, and thus enrolled through Johns Hopkins Tricare for Life or something like that. About three years ago I went in for my annual physical and the nurse doing the vitals asked the question if I had firearms. I simply replied... Lots! No more questions were asked after that and the doctor never followed up with anything else. I figured it was just a standard question that someone was doing for data mining. However being listed as retired military, kind gives the perception that I mmmaaaayyy be gun friendly. Just saying.

I'm also enrolled in Tricare but have never been asked by them. As I think this poll shows, the majority do not, it's specific to individual providers, and mostly seen in pediatrics/when children may be involved.

 

[teratos]

Two questions for the doctors. What counseling does the AMA tell you to tell a patient, and what reporting are you required to report?

I think you added this after I responded. Here are links to some of the positions so you can have it from the horses mouth.

American Academy of Pediatrics

American College of Physicians

AMA - I can't find, on a cursory search, a paper stating the the AMA's "position". They are less unreasonable than the peds people. They recommend asking, then asking how they are stored, recommending gun locks, storing ammunition separately, and keeping the locked gun in a gun safe.....


There is nothing reported at this time.

 

[Half-cocked]

A doctor once asked me if I owned guns.

I ate his liver with some fava beans, and a nice Chianti.

*slurp*

 

[MJD438]

My most recent personal physician asked; however, that would be a trick answer, as you are that doctor and know that I asked to become a patient of yours specifically due to your involvement in this community and proximity to my home.

For the thread participants - I say trick answer because he did not ask in the context of any medical reason; he asked as a conversation starter because of mutual knowledge of both of us being shooters.