Gun Politics in Your Doctor's Office
These are questions your doctor may ask you or your children as part of routine physical examinations or questionnaires. All the gun-related questions you are likely to encounter in doctors' offices, especially pediatricians, are based on doctor groups' political movement against gun owners. That movement is spearheaded by the American Academy of Pediatrics, although the AMA and other physician groups have launched similar efforts against gun owners.
With a few rare exceptions, such questions about guns do not reflect a physician's concern about gun safety. Rather, they are intended to prejudice impressionable and trusting children and their parents into thinking that guns are somehow bad.
That political motive makes these questions ethically wrong. Any doctor who asks them, either directly or on a questionnaire, should be disciplined.
Who can discipline the physician? You, the almighty consumer. That's right. If you, the patient or parent, file a formal written complaint with the offending doctor's HMO or medical group, your complaint will be taken seriously. The doctor will be asked to respond to it. In any case, your polite but firm protest will be a black mark on his or her record that will likely make him or her think twice before repeating the offense.
Patients not enrolled in a health plan (HMO) might see a doctor in a small group practice or solo practice. Unethical behavior by such a doctor can be reported to your county medical society. Although federal anti-trust laws have mostly stripped medical societies of their enforcement powers, they can still get an erring physician's attention.
Medicine has become an extremely competitive service industry. Medical groups are trying harder than ever to please consumers. The last thing a doctor wants these days, next to a malpractice suit, is a patient complaint alleging unethical conduct.
If the doctor persists or is especially inappropriate, you can send that formal complaint to the Medical Board of California. For instructions on filing a complaint go to web site www.medbd.ca.gov or call (800) 633-2322. This is a last resort, and it will be a definite blemish on the doctor's career. But it may be necessary for repeat offenders. This step will apply enormous pressure on the offending physician, even if the state board takes no official action against his or her license.
To summarize: you don't have to suffer in silence and you don't have to disclose personal information about your gun ownership to politically motivated doctors. Most important, you can strike back at unethical doctors who abuse your trust to advance a political agenda against law-abiding gun owning families.
Its not just in California, my mother called me sunday telling me about something like this happening to her in Arizona.
These are questions your doctor may ask you or your children as part of routine physical examinations or questionnaires. All the gun-related questions you are likely to encounter in doctors' offices, especially pediatricians, are based on doctor groups' political movement against gun owners. That movement is spearheaded by the American Academy of Pediatrics, although the AMA and other physician groups have launched similar efforts against gun owners.
With a few rare exceptions, such questions about guns do not reflect a physician's concern about gun safety. Rather, they are intended to prejudice impressionable and trusting children and their parents into thinking that guns are somehow bad.
That political motive makes these questions ethically wrong. Any doctor who asks them, either directly or on a questionnaire, should be disciplined.
Who can discipline the physician? You, the almighty consumer. That's right. If you, the patient or parent, file a formal written complaint with the offending doctor's HMO or medical group, your complaint will be taken seriously. The doctor will be asked to respond to it. In any case, your polite but firm protest will be a black mark on his or her record that will likely make him or her think twice before repeating the offense.
Patients not enrolled in a health plan (HMO) might see a doctor in a small group practice or solo practice. Unethical behavior by such a doctor can be reported to your county medical society. Although federal anti-trust laws have mostly stripped medical societies of their enforcement powers, they can still get an erring physician's attention.
Medicine has become an extremely competitive service industry. Medical groups are trying harder than ever to please consumers. The last thing a doctor wants these days, next to a malpractice suit, is a patient complaint alleging unethical conduct.
If the doctor persists or is especially inappropriate, you can send that formal complaint to the Medical Board of California. For instructions on filing a complaint go to web site www.medbd.ca.gov or call (800) 633-2322. This is a last resort, and it will be a definite blemish on the doctor's career. But it may be necessary for repeat offenders. This step will apply enormous pressure on the offending physician, even if the state board takes no official action against his or her license.
To summarize: you don't have to suffer in silence and you don't have to disclose personal information about your gun ownership to politically motivated doctors. Most important, you can strike back at unethical doctors who abuse your trust to advance a political agenda against law-abiding gun owning families.
Its not just in California, my mother called me sunday telling me about something like this happening to her in Arizona.
