Physician gag law

In the United States, a physician gag law is a law that prohibits physicians from asking their patients about whether the patient owns a gun. In some cases, these laws may also restrict the ability of physicians to counsel their patients about gun safety.^[1][2][3] The term was first used to describe the "Firearm Owners' Privacy Act,"^[2] a law that was supported by the National Rifle Association^[4] and passed in Florida in 2011, which prohibited doctors from “making written inquiry or asking questions concerning the ownership of a firearm or ammunition by the patient or by a family member of the patient.”^[5] The law passed in Florida was later challenged by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and was blocked in 2012 when judge Marcia G. Cooke, of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued an injunction against its implementation.^[6] In 2014, Cooke's decision was reversed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled to uphold the law.^[1] Since 2011, twelve other states besides Florida have introduced similar laws,^[3] and although Florida's is the most restrictive in the country, similar (albeit watered-down) laws have been enacted in Minnesota, Missouri and Montana.^[7]

Reactions

A 2012 "sounding board" article in The New England Journal of Medicine criticized Florida's gag law for the same reason Cooke issued an injunction against it, which is that, as Cooke said, “The State, through this law, inserts itself in the doctor–patient relationship, prohibiting and burdening speech necessary to the proper practice of preventive medicine, thereby preventing patients from receiving truthful, non-misleading information."^[2] Medical organizations that are opposed to these laws include the American Medical Association,^[3] as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Public Health Association. These eight organizations (not including the AMA) released a joint statement in 2015 which stated that "our organizations oppose state and federal mandates that interfere with physician free speech and the patient–physician relationship, including laws that forbid physicians to discuss a patient's gun ownership."^[8]

References

1. "American Academy of Pediatrics Condemns Ruling Against Physicians’ Right to Counsel on Firearm Safety". American Academy of Pediatrics. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
2. Weinberger, Steven E.; Lawrence, Hal C.; Henley, Douglas E.; Alden, Errol R.; Hoyt, David B. (18 October 2012). "Legislative Interference with the Patient–Physician Relationship". New England Journal of Medicine 367 (16): 1557–1559. doi:10.1056/NEJMsb1209858.
3. Rathore, Mobeen (April 2014). "Physician “Gag Laws” and Gun Safety". Virtual Mentor. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
4. Conaboy, Chelsea (10 November 2011). "Harvard researchers note danger in firearm “gag law”". Boston Globe. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
5. Rho, Helena (1 February 2013). "The Pediatricians vs. the NRA". Slate. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
6. Strier, Frank (13 October 2014). "Gun nuts’ powerful new enemy: How pediatricians are taking on the NRA". Salon. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
7. Perry, Susan (26 October 2015). "How politicians are increasingly imposing their ideologies into the medical exam room". MinnPost. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
8. Weinberger, Steven E.; Hoyt, David B.; Lawrence, Hal C.; Levin, Saul; Henley, Douglas E.; Alden, Errol R.; Wilkerson, Dean; Benjamin, Georges C.; Hubbard, William C. (7 April 2015). "Firearm-Related Injury and Death in the United States: A Call to Action From 8 Health Professional Organizations and the American Bar Association". Annals of Internal Medicine 162 (7): 513. doi:10.7326/M15-0337.