Home Health Risks

Florida physicians will be banned from asking patients whether there are guns in the home.
The Los Angeles Times (5/10, Khan) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Doctors will be banned from asking patients whether there are guns in the home, under legislation expected to be signed into law by Florida Gov. Rick Scott." The blog entry pointed out, "Whether a person has guns in the house may not immediately sound like a medical or health-oriented question -- unless you count not dying as a health issue." For example, physicians may ask their patients if they have a swimming pool to counsel them on related safety issues, particularly if they have youngsters. "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a third of all unintentional deaths of children between one and four years of age were due to drowning in 2007." Like swimming pools, firearms in the home pose a safety risk, the blog entry observed.