government
Governor appeals ruling on don’t ask gun law
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 27, 2012
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is asking an appeals court to restore a state law that would restrict doctors’ discussions of gun ownership with patients.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke on June 29 blocked the state from enforcing the National Rifle Assn.-backed measure. Under the legislation, Florida physicians who were determined to have asked patients about gun ownership without justification, entered unnecessary information about such ownership in medical records or discriminated against gun-owning patients faced possible sanctions by the state medical board.
Florida physicians, including representatives from the American Academy of Family Physicians, had challenged the law in court. The doctors said asking about gun ownership and storage was an essential patient safety issue, especially in houses with small children.
Scott announced July 30 that the state will appeal Cooke’s decision to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The privacy law was crafted to respect doctors’ constitutional rights to free speech while ensuring patients’ rights to possess firearms without discrimination, Scott said in a statement.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/08/27/gvbf0827.htm.
