Benko wrote:
If doctors are going to bud in where they don't belong, they deserve what they get.
They deserve what they get? Murder? Theft? Gag laws?
I know you mean that as hyperbole, but I'm not really sure that asking invasive questions is a good reason to have a "now the gloves are off" type of attitude towards what our individual or governmental reaction should be
The only thing I think a doctor deserves for asking a question a patient finds to be an invasion of privacy is one less patient (as they vote with their feet).
On another note, let's discuss whether it is actually reasonable for a doctor to 1) ask such a question, and 2) refuse to see the patient if they're not going to answer the question (especially if they do so as rudely as this parent did).
First off, if my role as a doctor is to ensure that any material variable in a child's health is at least loosely addressed, the existence of tools in the home, perhaps in very accessible places, that are
specifically designed for the use of killing a living being, is a valid question if you're actually taking a comprehensive view of the child's health. In the accounting work I do, myself or those above me ask clients a lot of questions that aren't just related to taxes. But we see our roles as not just tax preparers, or even tax strategists, but over all financial balance advocates. We have a process that reflects that priority. I don't blame a doctor for doing the same. In-fact, as a general principal, I highly respect it.
From what I can tell, the doctors aren't being "cock-wads." How weapons are treated within a home is a material aspect to the health & safety of the child. I admit I only scanned each article pretty quickly, but I didn't notice anything that implied any manipulative questions after that one. It actually looks as if the doctors follow-up questions/comments related to gun-ownership, is that there was safe concealment within the home... not overtly denying them help, or lecturing them that gun ownership is extremely dangerous and that they should remove guns from the home completely. If they got to this level, then I would agree they are getting to the level of "cock-wads."
Secondly, should the doctor deny them their services? Perhaps that is a bit excessive. But then again, I tend to think refusal to discuss the topic makes the parents sort of "cock-wads." Some people are WAAAAY too damn sensitive over this topic. Look no further than "revolution" chatter going to an all-time high anytime new regulations on guns come along.
For instance:
One Tuesday in the summer of 2010, at Children’s Health of Ocala, Fla., a pediatrician named Chris Okonkwo asked the mother of a 7-year-old patient, “Do you have guns in the home?”?
Her response was unexpected: “None of your business!”?
Okonkwo tried to explain why he was asking the question. He told the mother he routinely asked questions about safety regarding firearms, swimming pools, and bike helmets, to name just a few. He told her that if there was a gun in her home, it should be locked and any ammunition also locked and kept separately.
Instead she continued to yell at him, “Didn’t you hear what I said? None of your damn business!”?
Now this sounds like maybe this is one person's account of the facts, but it sure sounds to me like these parents are being the real "cock-wads," and personally as a doctor, if I had a sustainable business without them, I wouldn't want to work with them. Take your over-sensitivity to gun rights somewhere else. There's other important things in life, too.
But this isn't about that decision. It's about being able to ask the question in the first place, even if for all the right reasons. If a doctor asks you how much fat you take in, he's not necessarily trying to decrease your fat intake. Same with ANY question about your lifestyle & health. If you don't like some of them, go pick a new doctor that doesn't ask those questions, or at the very least is ok with your answer of "No Comment."
This is just more of the same bull from the gun lobby as you see from any special "rights" lobby, whether it be feminism, animal or property. They think their one little battle is so effing important and fundamental that they're willing to ignore the very principal that guided their activism to begin with. So now we have guys walking into Chipotle with AR-15's on their back & suing their doctor for asking the wrong question... we have women FORCING men/businesses to hire/fire/promote/pay based on what THEY think should be the proper measuring stick (rather than the person on the other side of the negotiation at arms-lenth)... we have animal rights activists shitting on hunters, while animals are being TORTURED for their entire lives on factory farms and hunting is perfectly ecologically natural. We have guys who don't want to recognize the federal government's, but instead the Nevada government's, authority around land they think is "theirs," even though Nevada 1) recognizes the federal government, and 2) recognizes their land rights.
Doctors who ask questions about guns are NOT the cock-wads. People who are losing their mind (and bringing our government's authority with them) over the special set of "rights" they've chosen to prioritize over others are.
"Men did not make the earth. It is the value of the improvements only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property. Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds."
- Thomas Paine
