‘Docs vs. Glocks’ Law Upheld in Florida Appeals Court
Erika Villanueva | | Jul 29, 2014 05:17 AM EDT |
(Photo : REUTERS/Max Whittaker) A Walther handgun is displayed at the Smith & Wesson booth at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Florida's "Docs vs. Glocks" legislation on Friday overturning a decision released by federal judge Marcia Cookie last year.
The law, which had been supported by the National Rifle Association, was passed after a Florida couple complained about a doctor refusing to see them after they declined to answer his question as to whether they had guns.
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Judge Cookie's ruling dubbed the Firearm Owners' Privacy Act as built only on anecdotal evidence was rejected via 2-1 vote of a the 11th Circuit's three-judge panel describing the law as a "legitimate regulation" of professional conduct among doctors and other medical practitioners.
"In order to protect patients, physicians have for millennia been subject to codes of conduct that define the practice of good medicine and affirm the responsibility physicians bear," Judge Gerald Tjoflat stated in the appeals court decision explaining that the code of conduct upheld by the Docs vs. Glocks law merely mandates respect for patient privacy.
Several doctors stated that it was part of the routine screening for new patients which is included in the long list of health-related questions they ask patients including drug and alcohol use, exercise, smoking and eating habits.
Backers of the law stated that doctors have a tendency to discriminate or turn away patients who owns guns or refuses to tell if they have one.
According to lawyers from the Florida Attorney General's Office, Judge Cookie had misinterpreted the language of the 2011 law stating that the state's responsibility is to uphold the constitutional rights of its citizens which included the ownership of firearms.
However, opponents have argued that medical providers needed to know what items are in the patients' home to offer further safety advice. They have also highlighted that said law has been created to for the gun industry to avoid regulations.
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