Invasive questions by doctors

[Friday]

My coworker, let's call her Jane, said she went to a new doctor in southern NH yesterday and was shocked by some of the questions the doctor asked her:

• Do you have a gun in your home?
• What religion are you?
• Do you have a smoke detector in your home?

I can see a certain health-related rationalization for all of these, but still, they seem creepy and invasive, particularly the first two.  Jane is the quietest, most mild-mannered person you can imagine, and even she was so shocked she wound up arguing with the doctor about it and won't be going back.  She did answer the questions, just out of habit of responding to authority figures, but then regretted having done so and argued about it after the fact.

Has anyone had similar experiences?  Also, was any legislation passed requiring doctors to gather the gun info, or is anyone aware of the AMA passing a recommendation to their members to do so?  Jane asked the doctor why she asked the gun question and the doctor said it's because she likes to promote gun safety.  Then Jane asked her if the doctor teaches gun safety, to which the doctor replied yes!  I suppose that could be legit, but still... Jane and I are in agreement that the whole thing was very suspicious.

[ny2nh]

Sandy, I would not provide that info to my doctor. In the practice I work at, very often we have people who say they are self-employed and provide no further info. I'm not sure why we even ask that - other than that is usually where their health insurance plan is based.....but still, do we really need to know where? I guess since it's orthopaedics, their occupation can help us with managing their injury to a degree.

I have often heard of pediatricians who ask more invasive questions. For people who are safe about guns, it's just annoying....but I guess for those idiots out there who are careless, the pediatrician is looking out for the health and safety of their patient, the child.

[jerry]

The Second Amendment Project has a good article on the subject here:
http://www.davidkopel.com/NRO/2001/Right-of-Refusal.htm

I would take their advice and file a complaint of boundary violation with the medical licensing board.

[Friday]

FYI, Jane has no children.  So the doctor couldn't even use the "doing it for the children" excuse.

[liftsboxes]

We also encountered these questions on our new doctor's forms.  Our solution was to answer N/A to all of them.

I suppose you could alternately translate "N/A" as:

Not Applicable to the services I'm paying you for.

or

None of your damn business Asshat.

[Tom Sawyer]

I have never had any problem with only answering the questions I wanted to. They can ask... it doesn't mean you are required to answer.

[John Edward Mercier]

I understood the reason for the second one, but not the other two.

[Humorrhoid]

So what is the big deal of those questions?

Do u have a gun?

Yes I do.Actually I have it with me right here in my jacket,(Uzi).

What religion you have?
Ahhhhh, a ltittle kinda like disorganized one.

[MTPorcupine3]

I have never had any problem with only answering the questions I wanted to. They can ask... it doesn't mean you are required to answer.

That includes date of birth and slave surveillance number. You are not required to answer. If the rationale is for credit check, pay with cash.

[41mag]

• Do you have a gun in your home?
• What religion are you?
• Do you have a smoke detector in your home?

No, but I have a flamethrower.

Jedi

No, it was lost in a freak accident with the flamethrower.

[Raineyrocks]

I have never had any problem with only answering the questions I wanted to. They can ask... it doesn't mean you are required to answer.

Yup, me too!  When my daughter took my grandaughter to the doctors a couple of months ago I offered to fill out the "questionarre" for her and asked the nurse why they needed to know everyone's name that lived in our house.   She said, it was too make sure the baby was in a safe environment.   I said, so your basically saying that by me putting everyone's name down you can tell if they are "safe" people or not?   She started getting snotty with me and I said I refuse to put any info down and it's none of her business who lives in our house.

My daughter answered a couple of verbal questions and I gave her "the look" letting her know that she didn't have to answer crap so she stopped.

Usually to save a confrontation I just check off, "no", to most of their stupid questions but this time they even wanted people's names in my household, I couldn't shut up.

[Antigone]

The intrusive questions are a problem and of course, with government healthcare on the horizon, maybe it will soon be more than just snotty attitudes we'll have to handle.  I had complications with a contact lens and got an eye infection.  They presented me with a questionairre including my sexual orientation, number of sexual partners, smoking habits, people in my household, etc.  I didn't answer anything that didn't have to do with allergies and billing.  I got a big lecture about how it's for my own good and then after getting my meds, switched doctors.  A friend's wife went in for a prenatal checkup and they handed her a questionairre about domestic violence amongst other things.  Since when is pregnancy a red flag for domestic violence?  She's very mild mannered and didn't understand why I was so perturbed at this news.  I live in CA.  The thing is, as far as I know, it is not mandated for a patient to answer these questions, but it is sad that people, as sheep, just answer.  La-di-da, la-di-da. 

[mackler]

What is she complaining about?  If you choose to to the man for your drugs then you can expect a nosy, invasive bureaucracy.  Does this surprise some of you?  If you really feel the need to put chemicals into your body, why don't you at least be agorist about it and help the counter-economic market by getting your fix from someone who operates independently and will pay more attention to your needs than to government filing requirements?

My doctor is an ND, not an MD.  Not only does he do a better job helping me be healthy than any MD I've ever seen, but the only thing we ever talk about is my health (which ironically is what MDs claim they're interested in, though your MD is about as likely to cure your health as the government is to cure inflation).  He's never asked me to fill out any forms, I've never told him where I live or anything, and he charges me in cash for each visit.  I doubt than anyone but he and I know that I'm his patient.  (And he's a hell of a lot less expensive than your lab-coat wearing, AMA-approved scam artists who masquerade as health professionals.)

As far as I'm concerned, and with limited exception, people who voluntarily subject themselves to the medical-industrial complex ask for and get just what they deserve.

[Pat McCotter]

Maybe he can help fix my aneurysm so I can go back to work.

[KBCraig]

Maybe he can help fix my aneurysm so I can go back to work.

Just dilute the proper aneurysm-causing substance to the carefully scientifically determined ratio of 1.648x10^-27, smack the bottle 10 times on the counter, and BE HEE-ulled!