General Category > General Questions
Asking about guns on Patient Information Sheet
PMRNC:
Without getting into a political discussion and/or rant.. I've had two clients so far ask me about them HAVING to include the question on their patient information sheets about gun ownership/possession. One of those clients is insisting it passed as a law that doctors HAVE to ask? Both are in NY. Anyone have a confirmed source of reference for this? If so what happens if a physician refuses (this ONE of the two is insisting he will NOT put it on even if they come take him away) :)
RichardP:
From the perspective of a caring physician who may think someone is depressed or prone to violence, asking about gun ownership can be a useful tool to become alert to someone who may become a threat to self or others. There is a legitimate medicinal use for that type of doctor / patient interaction.
However, there are no Federal requirements to query patients about gun ownership. If there are state requirements, they are overridden by the ACA. The NRA got language into the ACA to discourage such queries.
If a suicidal or homicidal person has access to guns, they are more likely to use that implement to initiate their violent act. This is why we are trained to ask that question.
One of the best methods to defuse potential violence is heartfelt conversation. By openly questioning each other in a non-judgmental manner, we can often discover a person’s pain, motives, and ability to act. Unfortunately, the gun rights lobby, mostly funded by the National Rifle Association, has time and time again inserted their hand in attempting to shut down that conversation.
In the Affordable Care Act, the gun lobby’s section is in Title X, starting on page 2,037, line 23. “Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights” contains five provisions mostly dedicated to shutting down conversation about guns in medicine. What do these sections contain?
Continue at the first link. And for those who have nurses asking about gun ownership and writing it in the notes, note this provision at the first link: The next provision states we can’t collect data related to owning or using firearms.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynmcclanahan/2012/07/23/gun-owner-rights-and-obamacare-yes-it-is-in-the-law/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2013/01/22/why-doctors-should-not-ask-their-patients-about-guns/
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/medicare.asp
Some thought these provisions could tie the hands of doctors who want to report someone that might be prone to violence, so we have this follow-up from the following link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/17/does-white-house-plan-enlist-doctors-in-gun-control-fight/
One of the 23 executive actions Obama approved Wednesday was to "clarify" that the federal health care overhaul "does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about gun in their homes." ... An overview of the plan said "we should never ask doctors and other health care providers to turn a blind eye to the risks posed by guns in the wrong hands." ... Coupled with the language on asking patients about guns was a decision to "clarify" that no federal law prevents doctors from warning law enforcement about "direct and credible threats of violence."
PMRNC:
Wow that's a lot of information, I already knew about the ACA on this issue, this one client was pretty adamant it was a NY law but I think he was referencing an email he got which is probably another one of "those" emails. I think he was also reacting to NY's new gun control regs and the propaganda and mis information floating around cyberspace. Doesn't help he needs to stay off facebook!! He gets mad when his patient's "google" their condition too :o :o :o ::) ::) :-\
Thanks again!!
RichardP:
Your welcome. With the attention this issue seems to be getting, I thought it would be a good idea to be comprehensive with the response.
Re. your client and N.Y. law. In one of the links I gave, there is reference to N.Y recently passing a law about doctors and getting gun info - so I think your client is referring to something legitimate, and not something like the e-mail presented at the Snopes link. It's probable that the anti-gun-check provisions of the ACA will override whatever N.Y. state law your client is referring to. Although, as has recently been clarified, ... no federal law prevents doctors from warning law enforcement about "direct and credible threats of violence.
[Edit] From here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/opinion/new-york-leads-on-gun-control.html?_r=0#p
The broad gun control bill approved Tuesday (1-15-13?) by the New York Legislature substantially strengthens the state’s gun control laws ... Some sections of the law, however, were not fully vetted in the rush. One provision asks health care professionals — physicians, psychologists, registered nurses or licensed clinical social workers — to report to local health care officials when they have reason to believe that patients could harm themselves or others. Such a report, after wending its way through other bureaucratic layers, and after crosschecking against a database of gun owners, could eventually authorize police to confiscate firearms owned by a dangerous patient.
See here also: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/mental-health-experts-new-york-gun-law_n_2480508.html
Lots of stuff if you Google on "new york" + doctor + gun [/Edit]
PMRNC:
Again.. wow and thank you.
--- Quote ---It's probable that the anti-gun-check provisions of the ACA will override whatever N.Y. state law your client is referring to. Although, as has recently been clarified, ... no federal law prevents doctors from warning law enforcement about "direct and credible threats of violence.
--- End quote ---
I was on phone with my attorney when reading this to him. He said that IF a state law is stricter than a federal law it will supersede believe it or not. He's going to dig a bit deeper and call this client for me as they are friends anyway.
I have such a headache over this ACA.. how they can even use the word "affordable" in there is beyond me. Affordable to WHO?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version