President Obama suggested the other day as part of his "gun safety" initiative
that it was appropriate for physicians to ask about their patients' guns.
Doctors who advise outside of their area of expertise have committed a
professional boundary violation.
The link:
www.ethics.va.gov/docs/necrpts/NEC_Report_20030701_Ethical_Boundaries_Pt-Clinician_Relationship.pdf
, "Ethical Boundaries in the Patient-Clinician Relationship," National Center
for Ethics in Health Care, July 2003,
defines "for physicians: Professionalism is the basis of medicine’s
contract with society. It demands placing the interests of patients
above those of the physician, setting and maintaining standards of
competence and integrity, and providing expert advice to society on
matters of health."
So, if a physician asks about guns in the
home of a patient, it may be argued that question has little to do with
the patient's health unless he observes a condition such as mental
disturbance that justifies such a question for a particular patient.
Even if there were a circumstance with a patient justifying the
question, doctors advising on guns may be questioned about their
training ("standards of competence") to do so. It is rare that a
physician has been medically certified to advise about gun safety and
rarer still that a physician studies the perils a patient may face (i.e.
crime in his neighborhood). Unless a physician undertakes a study
leading to his certification and unless he studied the patients unique
circumstances, in advising he would not have limited himself as a professional
should do.
According to the linked document "A boundary violation occurs when a
health care professional’s behavior goes beyond appropriate professional
limits."
Phil
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