You know who else doesn’t fear guns because they understand them? Every single person who shoots their spouse or child or neighbor or themselves. All those people that shoot up bars and schools think they understand guns too. People overestimate their knowledge on lots of things, guns are no exception.
Also, @kayaker , if you are still reading along go to the doctor. From the way you describe your lifestyle in your posts, even in this thread, just shouts for reasons to see a doctor.
Just to comment on these 2 points. Does your doctor actually hand you your drugs? If not, why would he do either of these? My pharmacist gives me pages of drug information every single time I get a refill. If yours is not advising you maybe you need a new pharmacy. Also, I don’t know why you want to return meds to your doctor, return them to where you got them from. My pharmacy will not even handle returned meds, they have you drop them in a locked container bolted to the floor.
I’m reading. I’ve gotten my first Pfizer vaccine with dose 2 coming up. The current pandemic situation is one reason I’m putting any doctor visits off, along with needing to find a new PCP.
I’m not sure how my lifestyle makes me need medical intervention, TBH, though.
Does the doctor have professional training, education and experience on the subject above and beyond the layperson?
Does the doctor have resources to help?
For the firearm question. The average doctor will have zero training, education, and experience above and beyond the layperson. The average doctor will also have zero resources to help.
For prescription drug abuse. The average doctor will have a lot more training, education, and experience beyond the layperson. The doctor will also have resources to help. Beyond that, the doctor is the actual person giving you legal access to the drugs.
Multiple people in this thread feel that doctors should ask about the dangerous thing they have no extra education and training on. While bearing zero responsibility for the dangerous thing that they are actually putting in your home and body. That is “odd” to me, like in the thread title.
Doctors get lots of training on on the safety challenges created by guns in the homes (as do nurses). Doctors get lots of training about suicide and the increased risks created by easy access to guns and ammunition. They aren’t telling you to get rid of your guns-they’re trying to provide information on safe storage and use of guns in the home. If there are ever children in your home that merits more detailed questions and information given to the patient to keep those children and grandchildren safe.
They should tell you when they write that script “it’s not good to take more than XXX a day or for more than ZZZ days (or weeks). I will authorize only WWW refills before I will need to switch you to a different pain medication. Here are some non-pharmaceutical pain relief measures you can begin using also”.
All in the 12 minutes the insurance companies will allow them to spend on your visit.
A pharmacist is the appropriate professional to be educating you about disposal of drugs-they’re the ones putting them into your hands. They also should be educating you about the risks of medications in your home, both to you and any potential children with access. Nurses are also educated about these risks. Pharmacists are educated how to explain to people about the very real limitations of pain medications both opioid and non-opioid. When the clerk hands you the little bag with the prescription and asks: “do you have any questions?”, say yes and start asking questions.
Yes, let’s do. Read @BippityBoppityBoo answer. she is spot on. If your doctor actually acts like you say you should report them for being a pill factory. I simply don’t believe your doctor just writes you a scrip for 50 oxy and never says another word about it. Seriously, report your doctor and find a new one. And talk to your pharmacy. Mine will not hand over my blood pressure meds without asking if I understand what they are for and if I have any questions.
As to returned meds, about 3 months ago I had some minor surgery for which I was given 5 oxy. In a week I was contacted by my pharmacy by phone and a email to check my online chart for messages to ask if I had used them and how to dispose of them if I hadn’t.
It’s kind of me calling the kettle black since I love me some beer, but from your posts your whole life revolved around beer and weed. You spend a lot of time drinking alone in bars ( you turn off your hearing aids so you can ignore people), outings with your GFeven dinners, revolve around wineries and breweries, and you seemingly only vacation in one place because pot is legal there.
So please, see a doctor and be honest about your alcohol and drug use. Mine knows how much i drink so she asks about getting enough sleep, does it interfere with my work etc. All are valid questions allowing your MD to treat you properly. And since you are a long time smoker of the killer weed, your MD should know about this so they can watch for breathing problems, check lung capacity etc. Catching these things early is often vital. Doctors are not your adversary.
Yay for BBB and MordecaiB. They are speaking truth and making it clear and plain as possible. Your doctor can only truly help you if you are honest with them. If you aren’t honest about alcohol or drugs, they might prescribe the wrong thing for your situation and that would NOT be their fault, but yours for hiding information that could help you.
However if your doctor doesn’t ask these seemingly invasive questions, they could be considered as at fault for prescribing you the wrong thing. They are trying to help us. The least we can do in return is be honest with them.
Yeah, I’m a very private person, and downright curmudgeonly… but not in the doctor’s office.
Come to think of it, I’m one of those people who put a fake name on my nametag*, and give true-but-not-helpful answers to survey calls and pollsters… but in the doctor’s office, I’m brutally honest.
I wonder if a good analogy would be withholding information from your mechanic… “Why are you asking about my brakes? I just came in for a transmission noise. And what right do you have to look at my tires? Stop that.”
…
*Well, come on. It said “HELLO, MY NAME IS…” so how could I not write Inigo Montoya?
No one in the little Tennessee Fundie Church we were visiting remarked on it. (sigh… the good Lord Jesus wasn’t mad, just disappointed.)
Oh, they also had a sheet of notebook paper on the “Mandatory Nametag” Table, headed CORN HOLE SIGNUP.
Before the service, Ol’ Merle got up front and said “If we don’t git a bunch more cornholers, we might jes’ hafta cancel the whole thing!” My jaw remained dropped until afterwards, when I found out there’s also a beanbag game…
Weird, I don’t recall being asked any of these questions by my doctors over the years, with one exception. When I went to Planned Parenthood for an abortion in 2007, one of several medical providers I spoke with (not sure if it was a doctor, nurse, or counselor at that point) asked if I felt safe in my relationship. The question surprised me, but on reflection it made perfect sense.
I do regularly get questions about my alcohol, tobacco, and other drug consumption, and about my exercise. Seems par for the course.
I had a case once where an infant was seriously injured and believed to have been abused. I represented the mother; everyone believed it was the father who did it, but so long as she stood by him, she was going to lose the kids too. According to the medical records from the child’s birth (which I had subpoenaed to look for possible non-abusive causes for the child’s injuries), the mother had disclosed to hospital personnel that the father was violent toward her. However, when I spoke to her about it, she denied it vehemently. I really tried to help her. If she’d been willing and able to tell the truth to everyone, not just the nurse, and to separate herself from him, she probably could have gotten her kids back. But then, if she’d been able and willing to do that earlier, maybe this tragedy could have been prevented.
I do fear chainsaws because I understand them. Because I’m afraid of them, I can use them safely. People who aren’t afraid of them but use them anyway sometimes die of it or maim themselves.
But your doctor isn’t asking you about chainsaws or any other tool that could be used in an unsafe manner. I don’t think it’s their job to be quizzing patients on something they usually don’t understand and has nothing to do with the appointment.
While they don’t usually ask me about specific tools, they do definitely ask me about things about my work which might affect my health. Often they don’t much understand the work, but when there’s something that needs explaining they listen to the explanation.
They also ask whether I live with cats/dogs in the house. That’s relevant. They ask whether I live with other people in the house. That’s relevant.
So the people who are upset when doctors ask about guns-are you also upset when I ask if you wear your seatbelt? How about when I ask if you have throw rugs in the house, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and secure railings on your stairs? How about if I ask about sunscreen use? Why is the gun question the only one that bothers you?
I don’t live in a gun country, and I’m not old enough or female enough to be asked about safety (because it’s not a standard question here). But if I go to a new doctor, or a doctor I haven’t seen for a long time, I’m likely to be asked other questions of minimal relevance. Doctors here are encouraged to make sure all that background stuff is on record.
I don’t know whether they are asking everybody about safety, but they ought to be. Men, even vigorous young or middle-aged men, are sometimes also unsafe at home; and they may be a whole lot less likely to volunteer the information if the subject’s not first brought up by somebody else.
I have sewn up more chainsaw injuries than you can shake a stick at, some very bad. But this was due to the province I was in during my residency. It is an unparalleled way of learning how to stitch.