Comments on: How Can Docs Talk To Patients About Guns Without Being Sued?

By: Jean Charis

Jean Charis — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 05:48:36 +0000

As a mental health provider, I think we must be able to talk about gun safety and storage as much as for loose scatter rugs. Questions about all kinds of safety concerns are part of the care of clients. Certainly it belongs in conversations about depression and possible suicidal ideation. To avoid a question about gun ownership in this context, could be catastrophic if the patients self harms.

By: Timothy Wheeler, MD

Timothy Wheeler, MD — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 07:24:19 +0000

The illustration above of a doctor handling a pistol is yet another example of why doctors have no business discussing firearms with their patients. The doctor violates Rule 3–Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

There is much talk about doctors giving professional advice to their patients about guns. But doctors get no training in firearm safety during medical school or residency. Why would anyone believe they are qualified to advise their patients on the subject?

Timothy Wheeler, MD
Director
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
A Project of the Second Amendment Foundation

By: Timothy Wheeler, MD

Timothy Wheeler, MD — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 07:16:22 +0000

It is surprising, after all these years and all the controversy surrounding this topic, that any media outlet would still discuss it as if there were no controversy. All of the medical organizations cited in this article–the AMA, AAP, ACEP, APA–years ago announced they were making gun control advocacy a priority. Is it any wonder that some states have considered outlawing physicians engaging in advocacy against one of our most cherished civil rights, and that two states have actually enacted such laws?

Commenter Dean above got it right–when doctors abuse their patients’ trust to push a political agenda of gun control in the exam room, they are committing an ethical boundary violation. It is entirely within the constitutional scope of state law to discipline such unethical conduct.

Readers are invited to review a brief documented history of the public health gun control movement at DRGO’s web site.

Timothy Wheeler, MD
Director
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
A Project of the Second Amendment Foundation

By: Dean

Dean — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:31:29 +0000

Preventing doctors from boundary violations with their patients is not a “gag” order.

Doctors, especially those who are afraid of guns, are not experts on firearm safety or firearm law. They should not use their professional status to push their political beliefs.

It is a boundary violation.