Dive Brief:
- A U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a Florida law banning doctors from asking patients about gun use and safety in the home, arguing that such questions violate patients' right to privacy.
- The law, which is backed by the National Rifle Association, came in response to a 2011 call by the American Medical Association suggesting that doctors counsel patients on gun safety.
- The law threatens doctors with professional discipline if they ask patients about gun ownership, but offers an exception if the questioning is "relevant" to the patient's medical care. However, the statute does not define what "relevant" means in this context.
Dive Insight:
The Court of Appeals decision, which was 2 to 1 to uphold the law, included a dissent from judge Charles Wilson, who called the legislation "a gag order that prevents doctors from even asking the first question in a conversation about firearms." In his view, Wilson wrote, the law is "designed to stop a perceived political agenda, and it is difficult to conceive of any law designed for that purpose that could withstand First Amendment scrutiny."
Wilson's colleagues, however, held that the law "is a valid regulation of professional content that has only incidental effect on physicians' speech...[and] as such, the Act does not facially violate the First Amendment." In doing so, they overturned an injunction issued by a federal judge in Miami, who held that the law did indeed violate the First Amendment rights of physicians.
All told, it appears that Florida physicians remain strongly opposed to the law. And to varying degrees, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association and National Physician's Alliance have taken gun control stances. However, it's not yet clear whether the law's opponents will further appeal the current court's stance. If they do not, it seems likely that others states with strong pro-gun voter bases will follow suit with similar legislation.
Want to read more? You may want to read this story on how hospitals can prepare for active shooters and other violence; or this story about the recent shooting of a caseworker in a Philadelphia hospital.