My dispensary where I legally purchase amazing incredible weed (Bio-Jesus Cresco Flower 8.5/10) gives me pamphlets on safe cannabis use with every sale. Using safely right now, as a matter of fact. Sitting down, lest I fall down. Things be on the up and up at the dispo
OK, I was looking for an excuse, this seemed appropriate.
Type I diabetics can have difficulty keeping weight on. It’s very different than Type 2. (not that screening would have been called for)
You’re tougher than I am. Be well.
BINGO.
Pediatricians ask the gun question and also recommend asking your kids’ friends’ parents if they keep their guns locked up. Seems like a good idea. Sometimes people need a reminder if they don’t think about it much.
My youngest actually found a gun left out at a relative’s house during a holiday get-together, someone I’d trusted completely. Thankfully she came and got me and didn’t touch it. I never even thought to ask them about guns.
Right, and so it seemed to me after nothing pinging on the diabetes chart my kid would be cleared of subsequent urine screenings but it became a matter of routine for a few years. Insurance would decline it then I paid the lab charges. Would’ve kept paying too if I hadn’t intervened.
It is in no way a political question in a medical visit context. It is good medical practice. It is also good nursing practice to ask those same questions. Massachusetts General Hospital trained me to ask those questions in nursing assessment interviews. They aren’t political questions. They are harm reduction or health promotion opportunities.
Actually, those questions are very optimal and up-to-date.
Actually, those functions are as much or even more the responsibility of the pharmacist who dispenses the drugs to you.
I join you in this stance.
I have more sympathy for doctors and nurses now that I’ve read this thread. I never realized how prickly people get for no good reason. Holy frick.
Congratulations. You have an unethical doctor.
The question of confidentiality came quickly to my min, and, in US, you essentially have none.
United States
In the United States, the Federal Rules of Evidence do not recognize doctor–patient privilege.
At the state level, the extent of the privilege varies depending on the law of the applicable jurisdiction. For example, in Texas there is only a limited physician–patient privilege in criminal proceedings, and the privilege is limited in civil cases as well.[4]
You are not under oath when talking to your doctor, so I would be circumspect about answering such questions.
Last time I went to the ER, I was asked all sorts of questions. It took a long time to convince the nurse that the reason I had a big gash in my hand was my clumsiness in opening a can of cat food.
But at one point I made her laugh:
“Do you ever feel like hurting anyone?”
“Aside from members of Congress?”
No, they’re entirely ethical. They made sure to ask about guns.
Or they have a doctor who knows and trusts their patient. They’ve actually talked to them about the issues, not giving an impersonal pamphlet. They know the kids, too.
My mom didn’t get this speech either. My doctor knows that neither my sister or I would ever abuse opioids. We hate the way they make us feel, and I’m scared to death of addiction and so only use addictive drugs when I absolutely have to. She also knows the danger of the drugs. And we don’t live where people break into our houses (plus I’m always home).
We did get a pamphlet from our pharmacist, but it was basically just an ad for the latest Naltrexone, saying we’d need to pay hundreds of dollars for an inhaler, which didn’t make me think they really cared so much as were covering their asses.
As for disposal–that is offered at most of the pharmacies around here and the local hospital, so it’s not necessary for the doctor’s office to take on the burden.
Back to the OP: I’ve never been asked these questions. I probably wouldn’t react too negatively to them, as it would be one of those annoying questions the check off at the beginning anyways, like whether I smoke when they know I never will.
But I do understand why such questions could rankle (especially the gun issue), and think there could be a tradeoff there. Like it or not, it is a political question to many people, part of the whole rugged individualism concept, so some people are really not going to like it. And it’s frankly kinda insulting to ask me if my family member is abusive. These aren’t questions without baggage attached. They carry more meaning that just what they’re being used for, and that can’t be ignored simply because the goal is good.
That said, if I was annoyed, I’d tell my doctor that it annoyed me, and that I know all the stuff they’re going to tell me. And if that wasn’t enough, yeah, I might change doctors. My doctor caring about my feelings and not thinking they can pressure me into anything is kinda important to me. I’ve had that go really wrong–it’s why I’m as ill as I am today.
Finally, I do question how well the abuse questions are as long as parents can accompany their children–something I’ve always seen. It seems to me that looking out for signs of abuse (behavioral and physical) would be more useful.
The abuse questions aren’t asked of children young enough that the parent would accompany them at all times. For those kids, the doctor is looking for physical and behavioral signs of abuse. Doctors ask to see older kids privately - but not simply to ask about abuse.
Not all abuse is physical or leaves marks - if my daughter withholds food from me for three days as a means of forcing me to give her access to my bank account, the doctor will see no physical signs of that.
Good Jesus, if the answer is no, just say no.
There are legitimate reasons these questions are asked routinely.
mmm
The Cleveland Clinic has never asked me about guns, but I do fill out a questionnaire about personal safety before I visit my doctor. It’s online and I can fill it in before I arrive. If I don’t fill it in, they ask me in person.
It’s amazing how our Nostradamuses can see perfectly into the future and know to a certainty that they will never need to deal with questions of abuse or personal safety, because things will always stay exactly as they are today and never change.
I remember when I was a teen, and my pediatrician asked me if I used pot. That was private.
That being said, the last several times I took my mom to the hospital, they asked her if she felt safe at home, while I was standing RIGHT THERE next to her. Not that I’m abusing my mom, but as one of her children who, sadly, controls her access to medical care these days, I certainly must be near the top of the list of potential abusers.
THIS.
Said another way, It’s called “public health” for a reason. it’s about all of us, not each of us.
“All of us” versus “each of us” is pretty much the difference between being a citizen and being a consumer. Which years ago was part of my vBulletin sig line. Paraphrasing as best I can remember:
When we stopped being citizens and started being consumers, that was the beginning of the end of Western Civilization.
Prophetic words from 20 years ago.