A lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida court to strike down a new Florida law (HB 155) that has earned the nickname "Docs versus Glocks."
HB 155 subjects health care providers to possible sanctions, including fines and loss of their license, if they discuss or record information in a patient's chart about firearm safety that a medical board later determines was not "relevant" or was "unnecessarily harassing."
The law, however, does not define these terms. The suit charges that the law is unconstitutionally vague and violates the First Amendment by having a severe chilling effect on confidential, lifesaving discussions. It also cites the risk posed by firearms and the duty of health care providers to counsel patients about risks to their health and well-being.
HB 155 was passed in Florida's recently concluded 2011 legislative session and signed by Gov. Rick Scott on June 2; it became effective with that signature. The suit seeks a permanent injunction to block its implementation.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of organizations representing health care providers as well as individual doctors, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Florida Chapter; American Academy of Family Physicians, Florida Chapter; and the American College of Physicians, Florida Chapter. The groups are represented by attorneys with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the law firms Ropes & Gray LLP and Astigarraga Davis.
"This gun lobby-backed gag law is a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of doctors and patients to discuss the severe risks posed by guns in the home, particularly to children," said Brady Center President Paul Helmke. "Given that Florida has some of the highest violent crimes rates in the nation, some of the weakest gun laws, and a gun death rate higher than the national average, Gov. Rick Scott and the legislators cowered by the gun lobby should know better than to support any measure that makes Floridians more vulnerable to guns."
Lisa A. Cosgrove, M.D., president of the Florida Pediatric Society (Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics) said, "Your pediatrician has the responsibility to discuss with you and other patients the scientifically proven risks to children posed by guns in the home. With 65 children and teens shot and eight of them killed every day in the United States, restricting the ability of pediatricians to fully discuss the severe risks posed by guns is dangerous and a violation of the standard of care we as physicians owe our patients."
The American College of Physicians President Virginia L. Hood, MBBS, MPH, FACP, said, "On this particular issue, ACP's policy encourages physicians 'to inform patients about the dangers of keeping firearms, particularly handguns, in the home and to advise them on ways to reduce the risk of injury.' However, this issue is much bigger than guns, it is about whether the government or any other body should be allowed to tell physicians what they can and can't discuss with their patients."
"This suit is about protecting basic First Amendment rights," said Doug Hallward-Driemeier, partner at Ropes & Gray LLP. "Although the law purports to protect patient 'privacy,' what it actually does is prevent doctors from initiating a discussion with their patients about firearms safety, including patients who would welcome receiving this potentially life-saving information."
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