Obama's new gun control measures loosen up HIPPA restrictions and allow medical doctors to provide names of patients with mental problems to law enforcement agencies responsible for issuing gun permits. In theory, this sounds like a good move toward preventing nut cases from getting their hands on guns.
Well, forget the fact that anyone can buy a gun on the streets these days. Suppose a doctor sees a patient for halitosis and the patient subsequently runs out and shoots somebody. Can the doctor be charged with failing to recognize and diagnose mental problems and make a report? What if the doctor's staff makes a mistake and reports Ima Peabody as having mental problems when, in fact, she does not? Who is to blame when Ima gets turned down for a gun permit and subsequently gets murdered because she couldn't defend herself?
No comments:
Post a Comment