Anyone here into firearms?

wstar · 12-14-2011, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacCool

I contend that it well outside a doctor's job description to ask about a lifestyle issue that is already statutorily covered. There are already laws on the books in most states regarding gun ownership, use, and storage. My possession, use, or storage of my firearms is none of my doctor's business, no matter who or what agency has "suggested" that he ask about them. His job, the job I hire him to do, is advise me on my health care. Where I store my guns and how I use them are law enforcement issues, not health care issues. If anyone wants to know what role firearms play in my life...they can send a deputy to my house with a warrant, if they can find probable cause.

For clarification...I am a physician.

To this (and semtex above): I agree that doctors shouldn't have a *right* to grill you on personal details. But I think being silent and/or hostile when they ask about guns hurts rather than helps us. You can be truthful without going into warrantless detail or being hostile, and it helps shape the statistics in the doctor's mind back in our favor.

As for all the rest of that lifestyle stuff: Again, I agree they don't have a *right* to know, but I'm also not fond of the idea that one should have to maintain a privacy barrier with one's physician. It's their job to be concerned about your health and safety, and you should be able to talk openly with them about anything and trust their confidentiality. When that trust breaks down, it negatively affects your standard of care.

I should welcome a conversation about my sex life with my doctor, or my driving habits. Maybe he just read a journal article about how SA-2005 rated helmets, while still allowed at many events, are *very* inferior for preventing certain types of injury compared to the SA-2010 standard and wants to let me know. Maybe he wants to let me in on the not-widely-known fact that using BDSM gear made of a certain type of rubber promotes skin infections. You get the idea...

If you don't trust your physician, find a new one, IMHO.