AMA praise court ruling on Florida gun gag law

“Open communication between patients and physicians is essential to medical care and must be protected from legislative gag orders. The court ruling is a clear victory against censorship of private medical discussions between patients and physicians. The State of Florida cannot ignore constitutional rights by limiting the free speech necessary for the practice of medicine.

“The American Medical Association strongly opposed Florida’s Firearms Owners Privacy Act and along with the American Academy of Pediatrics and seven other medical specialty societies urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to uphold a lower court decision that ruled the law unconstitutional. A joint amicus brief filed by the medical societies stressed that lawmakers cannot insert the state into the patient-physician relationship by dictating, prohibiting, or threatening open communication between patients and physicians.