Interesting discussion on WTMJ in Milwaukee today. Apparently in the Chicago Sun Times today (Not on their wesite unfortunately) there was an article about an incident at a local hospital where a 16 year old went in for an infected tonsil, when they were taking basic information about the teen (medical history stuff) they had asked the parents to leave the room. The pediatrician then asked the teen amongst other things (like if they were being bullied), whether there were any guns in the house (followup question being if there were locks on the guns). This was also information that was being stored by the hospital. A number of other callers called in to confirm similar questioning of their own children, although in most cases with them in the room.
While I can appreciate the need for doctors to ask such questions in the case of routine general wellness cases and in cases where abuse is suspected, why when the kid has an infected tonsil? If this was about keeping kids safe and gun safety, why aren't the parents allowed to be in the room to be a part of the discussion? If the kid says that there are guns in the house and he knows that they're not locked away, why are the parents not involved in the discussion if this really is about the kid's wellbeing? What IS the hospital doing with this information?
While I tire of hearing terms like "nanny state" being thrown around, you do have to wonder about what our society will be like now that government and healthcare insurance are joined at the hip. When the government has a vested monetary interest in people being healthy, you can endlessly justify storing more and more information about people under the guise of your own wellbeing, at the expense of your privacy.
Originally Posted by: Porforis