Pediatricians And Guns, Part II - Granite Grok

Pediatricians And Guns, Part II

It is a good thing for a physician to have prematurely grey hair and itching piles.  The first makes him appear to know more than he does, and the second gives him an expression of concern which the patient interprets as being on his behalf.”  —A. Benson Cannon

Kid_with_gunOn Sunday, February 3, 2013 more than eighty Granite State Pediatricians endorsed an open letter to legislators demanding passage of a cornucopia of gun legislation, perpetuating a plethora of myths, mistruths and confabulations currently being presented as, “sensible gun policy.” The letter, obviously an advertisement paid for by the Pediatricians, and featured in the February 3rd edition of the New Hampshire Sunday News, advocated for nearly everything  the contemporary anti-gun left espouses.

Pediatricians are the physicians most deeply esteemed in society because they care for our most precious societal resource: Children. Theses learned, highly-skilled professionals with years of schooling and residency, render skill levels, which society undoubtedly values and trusts  and, rightfully demands it for children.

A challenge of high-profile professions engaging in public discourse however, is the inherent risk of stepping outside ones’ area of expertise to weigh in on a highly controversial topic such as gun policy.   We can accept that pediatricians might be so inclined to advise parents to keep firearms and ammunition locked away from children. While some might feel intruded upon for that small morsel,  we inherently know it to be sound advice that we practice, as is keeping poisons out of reach of children.  Using ones status and credentials however, to advocate for broad-sweeping gun control, couched in the pretext of protecting children, is far too overreaching and borders on charlatanry.

Consider this.  How many times per year do we as parents take our children to the pediatrician? Perhaps once…or twice a year if the child become sick.  The child goes to the clinic, Mom or Dad pays the co-pay and then wait for ten, fifteen or perhaps twenty minutes until parent and child are ushered to an exam room. A Nurse takes blood pressure, temperature, height and weight. “The doctor will be with you shortly,” says the nurse and another ten minutes passes before the doctor enters, spending perhaps five to eight minutes with parent and  child.  So,  throughout the tender years of a child’s life, his or her pediatrician makes an annual time investment of roughly ten minutes on average.

Physicians only see their patients in less than healthy circumstances. Nobody really wants to go to the doctor. We do so only when we need to, and many of us, when we need to….don’t (to our own detriment). Meanwhile, professionals whose total investment in the lives of the average child is ten minutes, are now demanding policy for the larger society.

 Are we supposed to now accept some notion that pediatricians are more invested in the health and well-being of children by virtue of their profession and credentialing? More than the childrens’ own parents? Most parents spend all their time supporting the health and well-being of children. Part of that is selecting a good pediatrician. Those of us who own firearms are no exception.

It is position of the American Academy of Pediatrics that, “Children are safest in homes without guns” Really? According to the National Transportation Safety Administration, the number one killer of children, fourteen and younger is car crashes. In 2010, 32, 885 people died in car crashes. CDC reported in 2009 that  1,314 children ages 14 years and younger died in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 179,000 were injured. Yet, according to FBI data for 2011, 119 children twelve and under were killed with firearms. 446 children, aged 15-18 were killed with guns, most of which can be attributed to gang violence and the majority of these deaths were with handguns, not semi-automatic rifles.

An Institute of Medicine seminal study estimated that as many as 98,000 people die every year from preventable medical errors, at a cost of roughly $29 billion. If the CDC included preventable medical errors as a category, preventable medical errors would be the sixth leading cause of death in America.

Finally, this whole notion of physicians questioning whether or not a home has firearms is wrong. First, I would argue that it violates a citizens right to not incriminate ones’ self. If a physician asks, “Are there any firearms in the home?” and documents the answer…and in turn, submits that to a governmental data collection agency, the physician has in effect, acted outside of his or her role and has acted on behalf of the government and as an agent thereof. So when a patient answers, “None of your business,” Physicians should understand why. Physicians should not act as defacto-quasi gun registries for the government.

Spurred by an Ocala case where a physician dropped a patient when she refused to answer questions about the presence of guns in the home, Florida passed a law in 2011 that barred physicians from asking such questions. Despite broad public support, a group of pediatricians went to court to block the law. An appeal of the decision will likely follow.

Pediatricians provide valuable vital medical care to our children. When parents choose a pediatrician, they do so for a narrow and specific purpose, not to be told how to live. Physicians are citizens on equal footing with all other citizens in the public and political arena. Those choosing to enter the public dialog should do so as citizens, not as charlatans hiding behind credentials licenses and medical practices as final authorities.

>