By Timothy Wheeler, MD
A group of Wisconsin doctors is asking the American Medical Association to adopt a policy to advocate protecting the controversial practice of doctors interrogating their patients about guns in their homes. Here’s an excerpt from the story from Medscape (log-in required for the original story):
CHICAGO — Two proposals up for debate before American Medical Association (AMA) delegates seek to remove barriers to doctor–patient conversations in the exam room. One is a resolution proposed by the American College of Physicians Wisconsin Delegation asking the AMA to support an end to government interference in what doctors can discuss with patients. In Florida, for instance, the Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act, enacted in 2011, forbids doctors from asking patients whether there’s a gun in the house; the penalty for contravening the Act is a fine or loss of license. Barbara Hummel, MD, an alternate delegate from Wisconsin, told Medscape Medical News that allowing “the government to start telling physicians what they can discuss with patients — well, that’s crazy. We’re not against guns; that’s not the issue. We want to be able to provide some safety. We want to be able to talk to patients about whether they have guns in the house,” she added.
We’re not against guns? Really? Dr. Hummel needs to review some of the official policy of the organization she’s representing, the American College of Physicians (ACP). The ACP earlier this year published with great fanfare a policy that, among other things, urges mental health screenings before gun purchases and banning “automatic and semiautomatic assault weapons”. Sorry, Dr. Hummel, people who visit their doctors know the difference between teaching gun safety and unethical meddling in their private affairs. And by the way, Dr. Hummel, what did you learn in medical school about “gun safety”? Did you take an NRA gun safety class? Did you get some gun safety training through Wisconsin Force, your state’s firearm association?
The AMA, once a powerhouse lobby for doctors, no longer represents American doctors. It has become its own highly lucrative business, independent of income from dues paid by its few remaining members. Typical of organized medicine, it is dominated by career technocrats advancing their pet causes. And gun control is at the top of the list. This AMA policy initiative, sponsored by the American College of Physicians, is just one more effort by two medical organizations dedicated to taking your guns away.
—Timothy Wheeler, MD is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Second Amendment Foundation.