In the United States, a physician gag law is a law that prohibits physicians from asking their patients about whether the patient owns a gun. In some cases, these laws may also restrict the ability of physicians to counsel their patients about gun safety.[1][2][3] The term was first used to describe the "Firearm Owners' Privacy Act,"[2] a law that was supported by the National Rifle Association[4] and passed in Florida in 2011, which prohibited doctors from “making written inquiry or asking questions concerning the ownership of a firearm or ammunition by the patient or by a family member of the patient.”[5] The law passed in Florida was later challenged by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and was blocked in 2012 when judge Marcia G. Cooke, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued an injunction against its implementation.[6] In 2014, Cooke's decision was reversed by a three judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled to uphold the law.[1] The plaintiffs petitioned the court to be heard by the full panel of judges. In 2017, the court found the law to violate physicians' 1st Amendment Rights.[7] Since 2011, twelve other states besides Florida have introduced similar laws,[3] and although Florida's was the most restrictive in the country, similar (albeit watered-down) laws have been enacted in Minnesota, Missouri and Montana.[8]
YouTube Encyclopedic
-
1/2Views:70 3861 783 743
-
Should Doctors Ask If You Own a Gun?
-
The 10 Most RIDICULOUS LAWSUITS Ever Filed!
Transcription
An appeals court in Florida recently upheld a law making it illegal for doctors to ask their patients about guns. The court’s argument for the law is quite simply that “the practice of good medicine does not require interrogation about irrelevant, private matters.”…like guns. So, they think doctors shouldn’t be asking you about your guns. The argument against the law calls it “a violation of Doctors’ first amendment rights” “that threatens their ability to counsel parents about how to protect children from unintentional injury and death”. They think doctors should be talking about guns and gun safety. It could keep their patients healthy and safe, which they argue is a doctor’s purpose. Both arguments have their value and both point to the same question. What should doctor patient conversations be like? Where is the line from an ethical perspective? The American Medical Association has an extensive code of ethics that addresses everything from cloning to how to use research from unethical medical experiments. They are all for doctors explaining all the ethical and unethical ways cloning can be used. They are also OK with using research from unethical medical experiments so long as the origins of the research and the ethics of how it was gotten are fully explained. Those two examples have one thing in common and it’s the key to understanding this issue. Doctors and the medical community are all about giving you as much information as they can in the most honest way possible. Which is why they ask you about sex and drugs and guns. They don’t necessarily need or want to know that information about you personally, they just want you to know the information that they know about that stuff. And asking whether or not you have a gun is a great way to determine whether or not you need to know what they know about gun safety. You don’t have to take that advice, or change anything about how you’re living, or even have that conversation at all, which is the other key to understanding this issue. If your doctor asks you about guns and you don’t think it’s any of their business, just say so. They will respect that. One of their main ethical codes is patient autonomy. That’s the patient’s right to choose what medical treatment they are willing to receive. The patient also has the “right to courtesy, respect, dignity, responsiveness, and timely attention to his or her needs.” If you don’t want their recommendation they’ll respect that. They’ll be courteous about it. And they’ll be timely with the shutting up. You can just say, “No thank you. I’d rather not talk about that.” So, why does the law exist in Florida? Well, the law in Florida isn’t really about doctors or patients. It’s about Florida politics and the NRA, who backed the original bill. But regardless, if you’re in Florida and you want to know what your doctor has to say about gun safety, you can still just ask. They’re there to help. If you found this video informative, please hit the subscribe button now. We release five videos a week on a large range of topics and subscribing is the best way to get these videos to you. If you’d like to see another video right away right now. Click on the box at the top.
Reactions
A 2012 "sounding board" article in The New England Journal of Medicine criticized Florida's gag law for the same reason Cooke issued an injunction against it, which is that, as Cooke said, “The State, through this law, inserts itself in the doctor–patient relationship, prohibiting and burdening speech necessary to the proper practice of preventive medicine, thereby preventing patients from receiving truthful, non-misleading information."[2] Medical organizations that are opposed to these laws include the American Medical Association,[3] as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Public Health Association. These eight organizations (not including the AMA) released a joint statement in 2015 which stated that "our organizations oppose state and federal mandates that interfere with physician free speech and the patient–physician relationship, including laws that forbid physicians to discuss a patient's gun ownership."[9]
References
- ^ a b "American Academy of Pediatrics Condemns Ruling Against Physicians' Right to Counsel on Firearm Safety". American Academy of Pediatrics. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Weinberger, Steven E.; Lawrence, Hal C.; Henley, Douglas E.; Alden, Errol R.; Hoyt, David B. (18 October 2012). "Legislative Interference with the Patient–Physician Relationship". New England Journal of Medicine. 367 (16): 1557–1559. doi:10.1056/NEJMsb1209858. PMID 23075183.
- ^ a b c Rathore, Mobeen (April 2014). "Physician "Gag Laws" and Gun Safety". Virtual Mentor. 16 (4): 284–8. doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.04.pfor2-1404. PMID 24735578. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Conaboy, Chelsea (10 November 2011). "Harvard researchers note danger in firearm "gag law"". Boston Globe. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Rho, Helena (1 February 2013). "The Pediatricians vs. the NRA". Slate. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Strier, Frank (13 October 2014). "Gun nuts' powerful new enemy: How pediatricians are taking on the NRA". Salon. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ "Court Strikes Down Florida Law Barring Doctors From Discussing Guns With Patients". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ Perry, Susan (26 October 2015). "How politicians are increasingly imposing their ideologies into the medical exam room". MinnPost. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
- ^ Weinberger, Steven E.; Hoyt, David B.; Lawrence, Hal C.; Levin, Saul; Henley, Douglas E.; Alden, Errol R.; Wilkerson, Dean; Benjamin, Georges C.; Hubbard, William C. (7 April 2015). "Firearm-Related Injury and Death in the United States: A Call to Action From 8 Health Professional Organizations and the American Bar Association". Annals of Internal Medicine. 162 (7): 513–6. doi:10.7326/M15-0337. PMID 25706470.
This page was last edited on 18 August 2023, at 22:39