“The reason I’m asking is because of this fresh bullet wound in your left foot.”
“And I told you I’m here about the gout in my right foot.”
I loved my doc. We used to call him Marcus Welby, because you could just picture him walking to house calls with his little black bag.
But he retired (though ten years younger than I am), and now I’ve got some Gen-Z skateboarding punk (probably has piercings I can’t see, and tats from bands I’ve never heard of).
Honestly, he’s probably in his thirties… like my kids. Sigh…
Oh, and I’ve never gotten any gun questions (though I hope I wouldn’t get emotional about it). I’d probably give an answer involving the number of gatling guns mounted on my castle’s ramparts… I do have to remember not everyone enjoys sarcasm.
I did get asked “Have you ever wanted to hurt yourself?” It took all my self-control not to answer “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got a suicide all planned that’ll be completely painless.”
Firearm related injury is the second leading cause of death among children and adolescents.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsr1804754
Right behind motor vehicle crashes, and not quite twice the rate of cancer deaths.
There are really good reasons to be concerned about kids + guns. ETA: And most should be preventable.
For the record, I can’t remember if I’ve ever been asked by my doctor, but I’ve been asked as part of an insurance-related health assessment whether I always, sometimes, or never wear my seatbelt.
I’ve been asked by their doctor if my kids wear bike helmets.
Another question that’s been added in the past decade or so is whether you are in pain. Even if your appointment has nothing to do with being in pain.
There is research about what good can be done by asking these things when you have the face-to-face contact with a (hopefully) relatively trusted professional.
Thinking that guns are only political is like thinking that systemic racism is only political. Their presence in our country kills, maims, injures, and traumatizes tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people annually. They are a scourge upon society. Working to mitigate their evils at the lowest, most personal levels is one of the best and cheapest ways to improve peoples’ lives.
Being upset that a three-second question that could save lives is asked as part of a set list. Do you also object that the same COVID questions are asked everywhere you go, a longer list? What a bizarre hill to die on.
Your’e right, but that doesn’t help the OP’s argument. Accidental poisonings include all unintentional drug-related deaths, both street and Rx. That’s why doctors ask patients about street drug use and Rx medications. Falls are the #1 cause of death in the elderly, which is the main reason they’re so high on the list of accidental deaths and is also why doctors ask elderly patients about balance and other relevant issues.
I am not anti-gun by any means. But to argue that doctors shouldn’t ask patients questions related to gun safety because annually “only” 40,000 people in the US die and “only” 84,000 sustain nonfatal injuries from guns is illogical. And to get irritated that doctors ask about guns, as some people do, is even more irrational.
Gun stores sell gun locks and gun safes.
My doctor hands me a prescription for 50 hydros and doesn’t hand out a pamphlet on prescription drug abuse, doesn’t offer safe prescription drug disposal, and has never asked about me locking up my drugs from my kids.
It doesn’t take a gun nut to notice that’s a little weird.
These are unusual questions to ask. Every once in a while, doctors are criticized for not asking basic questions about seat belts or car seats - and I can only guess the doctor must have just read something along those lines. While it is true that fluoride in toothpaste or locked cabinets are probably good things, you sometimes need to focus more on relevant ones.
Seems like it could be a good idea. If it started happening, I would not be upset by it. It doesn’t suggest to me that they should stop asking questions relevant to the second leading cause of death for kids and adolescents.
(Drug overdose or poisoning is 6th, by the way.)
Not necessarily. The family practice I’ve been going to (which I no longer care for because they’ve been getting more and more “corporate”) asks these kinds of questions as sort of care script. They have what I call a “health care by numbers” approach, which I don’t like. For example, they have a practice policy that all adult female patients get annual mammograms. I’m not saying mammograms are bad. I’m saying that they should be prescribed for each patient based on medical risk factors, history, etc. and not just that “my boss told me to”. Some women need them annually, some every three years. But they’ve taken all decision-making away from the doctor/patient team. They could sell a health care app in the Google Play store and offer the same level of care.
The questions in the OP that my practice asks includes those as well as “do you use the seat belt in your car” and other basic safety questions. I know they’re well-meaning but I still find them insulting.
This is it, exactly. It can be very difficult to get a controlled person away from their abuser. A doctor’s office is one place where, not only can they get an answer but they can also provide help. It’s not about you, unless you need to to be about you. Just answer the question and move on.
They are supposed to. And trust me, if you decline to answer, no one is going to look at you twice. They just need to check the box that they asked. It may be annoying, but it is an opportunity for those who don’t feel safe to ask for help. You can just decline to answer. Just please don’t be a jerk.
Oh yes the 50 questions about home life and keeping my kid safe every single well child visit they’d ask me or my kid the seatbelt questions, is there smoking in the home, do you have a regular bedtime, do you do chores(wtf?) then they want an urine sample from the child because well we’re screening for diabetes. We complied once, next time they asked I put my foot down said NO. The kid is slender, not chubby or even a teensy bit plump, skinny really and without any symptoms or concerns from me but they just want to check. BS!
Do you think only overweight kids can have diabetes? Or, could being skinny even be a symptom? Do you suppose maybe medical professionals developed a standard of screening for something that could otherwise go undetected?
It’s what the nurse told me, they’re were screening for diabetes. It was when they were around 9/10 years of age. Never had it come up before in their annual physical.
Yes. I was asking you about your knowledge of diabetes and its symptoms and indicators, vs the knowledge of the people who wanted to screen your child for it.
Specifically, I was curious if you think only overweight kids can have diabetes.
Like I said, there were no symptoms like frequent urination, fatigue, excessive thirst, blurred vision.
When the kids were older and went for sports physicals they didn’t ask for a urine samples.
At my physicals my docs never do a urine test without cause.
No, that would be false to say kids who have diabetes are always overweight.
That’s not even remotely funny. Some people say that in all seriousness but you think having a viable suicide plan is a joke.
I can’t say anything more about this thread in its entirety, unless it gets moved to the Pit.
I’m sure there are situations where your take on it is the correct one. Nonetheless, I think that asking broader questions is a sign of advancement in medical practice. I find it hard to believe that physicians in, say, 1968, made a habit of asking patients about any vulnerabilities or abuse. The fact that it is done now is a sign of progress - to me, anyway. YMMV.
The guy who just retired was a friend. An asshole at times but a friend. He gave me open scripts I used to order my meds from Canadia (I’m a cheap fück).