Dear Nancy

Below is the reply I sent to Wendy McElroy. I’ve received no response yet,
but perhaps you can pass it on to your list at WAGC. Doctors for Responsible
Gun Ownership takes a very active role in counseling patients on their
options when doctors violate professional boundaries.

Hope this is helpful,

Tim Wheeler
DRGO-The Claremont Institute (text follows)

Hello Ms. McElroy,

Actually, Dianne Neely does have an avenue of complaint about the intrusive
questionnaire her daughter got at the pediatrician’s office (re: your
excellent FOXNews article of 3/26/02).

Pediatricians and other medical doctors have expanded the reasonable notion
of inquiring about child and spousal abuse to almost every private detail of
family life. The area my organization Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
addresses is firearm ownership.

A well-documented connection exists between question # 21, “Is there a gun
in your home?” and the American Academy of Pediatrics’s political advocacy
for gun control. Politically motivated questions about guns in the home (or
anything else) constitute a form of unethical physician conduct known as a
boundary violation.

Ms. Neely has every right to 1) change doctors or health plans, with or
without an explanation, 2) file a formal written complaint with her health
plan, or 3) file a formal written complaint with the Massachusetts Board of
Registration in Medicine.

I’d be happy to discuss this with her or your other readers if they wish.

Best regards,

Timothy Wheeler, MD
Director

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership
A Project of The Claremont Institute
PO Box 1931
Upland, CA 91785-1931

voice message/fax (909) 949-9971

e-mail [email protected]

To learn more about DRGO go to The Claremont Institute and click on DRGO.
Or click on Publications, then Second Amendment to read our editorials.
—– Original Message —–
From: “Women Against Gun Control” <[email protected]>

Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 11:01 AM
Subject: Fw: [ocfr] DOCTORS QUESTION TEENS WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT
> > 3. DOCTORS QUESTION TEENS WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT
> > by Wendy McElroy <[email protected]
> > Special to TLE
> >
> > Dianne Neely has no official way to complain about an intrusive “Teen
> > Questionnaire” <http://www.massnews.com/31102intrude2.htm>; that a
> > pediatrician gave to her 13-year-old daughter, Amanda, without parental
> > consent. The 27 questions — ranging from sexual activity to drug use,
> > including “Is there a gun in your home?” and “is there conflict
> > [domestic violence]?” — violated no law.
> >
> > Indeed, Dr. Stephen Kanarek — a physician at the Pediatric Health Care
> > Associates where Amanda has been a patient since 1996 — calls such
> > questionnaires “common practice” across America. Certainly, they are
> > endorsed by such powerful organizations as the American Pediatric
> > Association (APA), the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the
> > American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
> >
> > The questionnaires may exclude parents from aspects of their child’s
> > medical care. For example, the heading of Amanda’s questionnaire
> > offered her two options: “I would not like this information shared with
> > my parents;” or, “I am willing…” An APA Policy Statement entitled
> > “Confidentiality in Adolescent Health Care (RE9151),” states “health
> > risks to the adolescent are so impelling that legal barriers and
> > deference to parental involvement should not stand in the way of needed
> > health care.” <http://www.aap.org/policy/104.html
> >
> > The “Teen Questionnaire” is not designed to protect the privacy of those
> > teens who ask doctors for help against sexual molestation in the home,
> > for example. It is given pre-emptively and without parental consent to
> > every teen who is a patient, whether or not abuse is suspected.
> >
> > Some of the questions reach beyond traditional health care. For
> > example, Amanda was asked, “[H]ave you ever ridden with a driver who has
> > used drugs or alcohol?” And, “Do any of your friends use drugs?”
> > As policy, the APA states, <http://www.aap.org/policy/re9801.html
> > “Inquiry regarding the extent of tobacco, alcohol, or other drug use by
> > peers and family should be a part of the routine history of every child
> > who is seen in the pediatrician’s office.”
> >
> > The answers cannot strictly be called “confidential” as doctors may
> > notify state agencies if they believe a threat to the child exists or if
> > an illegal activity is indicated. An answer such as “yes, my parents
> > sometimes have wine when dining at a nearby restaurant and they drive
> > home afterward,” may be reported to child protective services or the
> > police. (Such matters are decided at the doctor’s discretion and
> > according to widely varying state laws.)
> >
> > At the doctor’s discretion, the child’s consent as well as
> > confidentiality can be sidestepped. The APA’s recommendation on
> > “Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Drugs,” is “Patient consent should
> > generally be obtained before testing for drugs of abuse, but may be
> > waived when the patient’s mental status or judgment is impaired.”
> >
> > Even in the absence of imminent danger or illegality, the doctor may
> > breach confidentiality. Dr. Karanek explained that concern over a
> > teen’s unprotected sexual activity might lead a pediatrician to inform
> > the parents even if the confidentiality box in the header had been
> > checked.
> >
> > Again, the APA concurs. It advises doctors to inform adolescents of the
> > circumstances under which “confidential” information will be disclosed.
> > But does a 13-year-old realize how accounts of occasional drinking, the
> > ownership of guns or domestic squabbles by parents might be viewed by
> > Child Protective Services?
> > <http://www.ifeminists.com/introduction/editorials/2001/0731.html
> >
> > Dianne Neely is not a bad parent with secrets to hide. Quite the
> > contrary. Active in both church and community, Neely wants to play a
> > fully-informed role in shaping her children’s values.
> >
> > Neely learned of the questionnaire by accident when she took her two
> > daughters to a pediatric office. Her 10-year-old went into one room
> > and, at Amanda’s request, Neely joined her in another. In the room, a
> > nurse handed Amanda the questionnaire and instructed her to give the
> > completed form “directly to the doctor.”
> >
> > Dismayed, Amanda told her mother that she could not bring herself to
> > answer questions such as “have you ever experienced…fondling or sexual
> > intercourse that was against your will?” According to a story in
> > Massachusetts News <http://www.massnews.com/31102intrude.htm>;, the
> > doctor then advised the complaining Neely that “state law requires that
> > all children are treated as if they are promiscuous and doctors have
> > every right to offer sexual advice, birth control, etc. without
> > parental permission.” Claudette Houle of the state Board of
> > Registration, which regulates doctors, denies that the Board has any
> > regulation on teen questionnaires.
> >
> > Few people would object to third parties interceding to prevent a child
> > from being physically abused within the family. And the sincerity with
> > which pediatricians such as Dr. Kanarek argue for the best interests of
> > the child is unmistakable. But the APA questionnaire policies resemble
> > a generalized witch hunt that allows state agencies to enter the homes
> > of parents who seek even mundane medical care for their children. The
> > APA advises, “Even an apparently straightforward complaint such as
> > headaches or sore throat may be associated with an underlying substance
> > abuse problem.”
> >
> > Dianne Neely used to have confidence in her pediatricians who — in
> > fairness — are pursuing accepted policy in teen health care. Neely
> > doesn’t accept it. She intends to ask new doctors some pointed
> > questions before allowing them access to her children. Will she be
> > fully informed of her child’s medical history? What questions does the
> > doctor ask of children and will information be sent to state agencies
> > without her consent or that of her child?
> >
> > More generally, Neeley asks, “Does doctor-patient confidentiality exist
> > for my child and why are doctors assuming parental authority?”
> > – - -
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> > <http://www.ifeminists.com/interaction/lists/
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