I took my son to the pediatrician today for his annual school physical. The nurse was doing some preliminaries, and in going through a list of standard questions ("any known allergies", "any history of high cholesterol in the family", that sort of thing), asked "do you have any guns in the home".
I replied that I thought it was an inappropriate question and represented an ethical boundry violation. She tried to soft sell it, "the government now requires it, etc.". I asked why they didn't ask if I had a swimming pool, which cause more accidental deaths than guns. No good answer, you need to ask the Dr., etc. She was real defensive, and I made clear that I wasn't upset with her, but with the question and the perceived need for it.
I ask the Dr. about it, and the answer I got was basically an "it's for the chil-drun" line of BS (with that pronunciation and everything!). I again stated I felt this represented a boundry violation, and asked why they don't ask about swimming pools or wearing of seatbelts, both of which are bigger issues than negligent/accidental firearms discharges. Got mealy-mouthed answers, gov't "asks" that we collect this, that it's for safety, society has a big problem with guns, etc. He seemed to think that this was an OK thing to be doing. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes, both very professional, then let it drop agreeing to disagree.
My son is getting old enough to think about going to a GP/internal medicine doctor instead of a pediatrician, so I may head that way and bail out. I've got an internist who is quite good that I use, so I may take my son there going forward. In fact, consider it done. It's a shame, the guy we saw today is one doctor in a multi-doctor practice, and there are others we like better than the one we saw today for the physical, but it's a standard form they apparently all use, so every one is getting asked this question at this practice.
Any comments? Would you have done anything different / do anything further?
I replied that I thought it was an inappropriate question and represented an ethical boundry violation. She tried to soft sell it, "the government now requires it, etc.". I asked why they didn't ask if I had a swimming pool, which cause more accidental deaths than guns. No good answer, you need to ask the Dr., etc. She was real defensive, and I made clear that I wasn't upset with her, but with the question and the perceived need for it.
I ask the Dr. about it, and the answer I got was basically an "it's for the chil-drun" line of BS (with that pronunciation and everything!). I again stated I felt this represented a boundry violation, and asked why they don't ask about swimming pools or wearing of seatbelts, both of which are bigger issues than negligent/accidental firearms discharges. Got mealy-mouthed answers, gov't "asks" that we collect this, that it's for safety, society has a big problem with guns, etc. He seemed to think that this was an OK thing to be doing. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes, both very professional, then let it drop agreeing to disagree.
My son is getting old enough to think about going to a GP/internal medicine doctor instead of a pediatrician, so I may head that way and bail out. I've got an internist who is quite good that I use, so I may take my son there going forward. In fact, consider it done. It's a shame, the guy we saw today is one doctor in a multi-doctor practice, and there are others we like better than the one we saw today for the physical, but it's a standard form they apparently all use, so every one is getting asked this question at this practice.
Any comments? Would you have done anything different / do anything further?
