Doctors Interrogate Children as Informants on Parents' Behavior

Monday, March 03, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: pediatricians, medical ethics, health news

(NaturalNews) Encouraged by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), pediatricians across the United States have begun questioning children about their parents' habits, in some cases even filing police reports based on this information, according to an opinion article published in the Boston Herald.

Article author Michael Graham recounts that his own children were asked by their doctor whether their parents used drugs and alcohol, owned guns, or were abusive. The doctor did not seek parental permission before asking the questions, nor did he inform them that they were being asked; Graham and his wife found out only after their children came home from the visits.

"The doctor wanted to know how much you and mom drink, and if I think it's too much," Graham reports his daughter saying. "She asked if you two did drugs, or if there are drugs in the house. The doctor wanted to know how we get along. And if, well, Daddy, if you made me feel uncomfortable."

Graham also reports the case of an Uxbridge, Massachusetts man who had his legal gun ownership reported to the police by his daughter's doctor. The doctor filed a police report after asking the 5-year-old girl if her father owned a gun, then following up with questions to her and her mother about the type and number of the weapons.

Graham blames the trend on guidelines issued by the AAP, which classifies parents as "persons of interest" and encourages doctors to ask children questions in order to uncover inappropriate or illegal behavior.

"The paranoia over parents is so strong that the AAP encourages doctors to ignore 'legal barriers and deference to parental involvement' and shake the children down for all the inside information they can get," Graham writes.

According to Graham, anti-gun advocacy by pediatricians is widespread enough that "some states are considering legislation to stop it."

"What this interrogation of children demonstrates," added consumer health advocate Mike Adams, "is just how deeply the medical establishment now believes it has total authority over the lives of patients. This kind of behavior is arrogant, outrageous and should be outlawed," Adams said.