A Crime For Doctors to Ask About Guns?

When I saw this report on ABC about a Florida politician wanting to make it a crime if a physician asks about guns in the home or else face 5 years in jail and up to $5 million fine, I could not believe it.

Who cares that more children die of accidents than of diseases.

It is standard practice for pediatricians to provide guidance on a variety of unintentional injury-prevention counseling for infants, preschool-aged children, school-aged children, and adolescents as well as their parents. These include:

• Traffic safety
• Burn prevention
• Fall prevention
• Choking prevention
• Drowning prevention/water safety
• Safe sleep environment
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
• Poison prevention
• Firearm safety
• Sports safety

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, gunshot wounds account for one in 25 admissions to pediatric trauma centers in the United States. Furthermore, a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to kill a friend or family member than a burglar or other criminal.

As the trite but true saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

And in this day where healthcare costs are spiraling, how precious and common-sense it is to ask and provide guidance on firearm safety and security at a cost of one physician visit rather than a child accidentally getting shot and using up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of surgeries, hospitalizations, studies, physician visits, etc.

Read the ABC report here.

Why as an ENT am I even bothered about this? It's because I often have to ask similar but what some people may consider very private questions akin to asking about guns (ie, oral sex).

Reference:
Office-based counseling for unintentional injury prevention. Pediatrics 2007 Jan;119(1):202-6.