It is now illegal for pediatricians in Florida to ask a parent if they have guns in the home:
In June, Gov. Rick Scott signed a law barring Florida doctors from routinely asking patients if they own a gun. The law also authorizes patients to report doctors for “unnecessarily harassing” them about gun ownership and makes it illegal to routinely document firearm ownership information in a patient’s medical record. Other state legislatures have considered similar proposals, but Florida is the first to enact such a law.
These kinds of questions, and other questions getting at the situation at home, are absolutely vital to understand a person’s health. I always asked this question. And because I was their pediatrician with whom they trusted their child’s life, the answers I got amazed me. But, now, not in Florida.
This is what happens when we let legislators dictate the practice of medicine.
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