Perhaps, there was a reason to suspect ?
My response:
It makes no difference whether the child is being seen for a sore throat. The "right" and "obligation" of the doctor is set by Federal law and State statutes (in this case, Virginia). For example, without questioning, how does a doctor evaluate a patient's mental status concerning certain issues, and then being able to extrapolate from those feeling a potential health and welfare risk? Without questioning, how is a doctor to find out if a child has been sexually abused? A doctor is allowed, and even required, to make a verbal assessment of a child's state of mind and physical well-being, even if it has nothing whatever to do with the original purpose of the visit.
A doctor does not need to only see "outward" signs of abuse; e.g., broken arm, bite marks, etc. Sometimes, abuse is of the mind.
Virgina State Statute:
§ 63.1-248.2. Definitions.
As used in this chapter unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Abused or neglected child" means any child less than eighteen years of age:
1. Whose parents or other person responsible for his care creates or inflicts, threatens to create or inflict, or allows to be created or inflicted upon such child a physical or mental injury by other than accidental means, or creates a substantial risk of death, disfigurement, or impairment of bodily or mental functions;
2. Whose parents or other person responsible for his care neglects or refuses to provide care necessary for his health. However, no child who in good faith is under treatment solely by spiritual means through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination shall for that reason alone be considered to be an abused or neglected child;
3. Whose parents or other person responsible for his care abandons such child;
4. Whose parents or other person responsible for his care commits or allows to be committed any act of sexual exploitation or any sexual act upon a child in violation of the law; or
5. Who is without parental care or guardianship caused by the unreasonable absence or the mental or physical incapacity of the child's parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis.
"Complaint" means any information or allegation of abuse or neglect made orally or in writing other than the reports referred to below.
"Department" means the State Department of Social Services.
"Family assessment" means the collection of information necessary to determine:
1. The immediate safety needs of the child;
2. The protective and rehabilitative services needs of the child and family that will deter abuse or neglect;
3. Risk of future harm to the child; and
4. Alternative plans for the child's safety if protective and rehabilitative services are indicated and the family is unable or unwilling to participate in services.
"Investigation" means the collection of information necessary to determine:
1. The immediate safety needs of the child;
2. The protective and rehabilitative services needs of the child and family that will deter abuse or neglect;
3. Risk of future harm to the child;
4. Alternative plans for the child's safety if protective and rehabilitative services are indicated and the family is unable or unwilling to participate in services;
5. Whether or not abuse or neglect has occurred;
6. If abuse or neglect has occurred, who abused or neglected the child; and
7. A finding of either founded or unfounded based on the facts collected during the investigation.
"Local department" means the department of public welfare or social services of any county or city in this Commonwealth.
"Prevention" means efforts that (i) promote health and competence in people and (ii) create, promote and strengthen environments that nurture people in their development.
"Report" means an official document on which information is given concerning abuse and neglect and which is required to be made by persons designated herein and by local departments in those situations in which a complaint from the general public reveals suspected abuse or neglect.
"The court" means the juvenile and domestic relations district court of the county or city.
"Valid report or complaint" means the local department of social services has evaluated the information and allegations of the report or complaint and determined that the local department shall conduct an investigation or family assessment because the following elements are present:
1. The alleged victim child or children are under the age of eighteen at the time of the complaint or report;
2. The alleged abuser is the alleged victim child's parent or other caretaker;
3. The local department receiving the complaint or report is a local department of jurisdiction; and
4. The circumstances described allege suspected child abuse or neglect.
Nothing in this section shall relieve any person specified in § 63.1-248.3 from making reports required in that section, regardless of the identity of the person suspected to have caused such abuse or neglect.
§ 63.1-248.3. Physicians, nurses, teachers, etc., to report certain injuries to children; penalty for failure to report.
A. The following persons who, in their professional or official capacity, have reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child, shall report the matter immediately, except as hereinafter provided, to the local department of the county or city wherein the child resides or wherein the abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred or to the Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline:
1. Any person licensed to practice medicine or any of the healing arts;
2. Any hospital resident or intern, and any person employed in the nursing profession;
3. Any person employed as a social worker;
4. Any probation officer;
5. Any teacher or other person employed in a public or private school, kindergarten or nursery school;
6. Any person providing full-time or part-time child care for pay on a regularly planned basis;
7. Any duly accredited Christian Science practitioner;
8. Any mental health professional;
9. Any law-enforcement officer;
10. Any mediator eligible to receive court referrals pursuant to § 8.01-576.8;
11. Any professional staff person, not previously enumerated, employed by a private or state-operated hospital, institution or facility to which children have been committed or where children have been placed for care and treatment;
12. Any person associated with or employed by any private organization responsible for the care, custody or control of children; and
13. Any person who is designated a court-appointed special advocate pursuant to Article 1.4 (§ 9-173.6 et seq.) of Chapter 27 of Title 9.
If neither the locality in which the child resides or where the abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred is known, then such report shall be made to the local department of the county or city where the abuse or neglect was discovered or to the Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglect hotline.
If an employee of the local department is suspected of abusing or neglecting a child, the report shall be made to the juvenile and domestic relations district court of the county or city where the abuse or neglect was discovered. Upon receipt of such a report by the court, the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court shall assign the report to a local department of social services that is not the employer of the suspected employee for investigation or family assessment; or, if the judge believes that no local department of social services within a reasonable geographic distance can be impartial in responding to the reported case, the judge shall assign the report to the court service unit of his court for evaluation. The judge may consult with the State Department of Social Services in selecting a local department to respond to the report or the complaint.
If the information is received by a teacher, staff member, resident, intern or nurse in the course of professional services in a hospital, school or similar institution, such person may, in place of said report, immediately notify the person in charge of the institution or department, or his designee, who shall make such report forthwith.
The initial report may be an oral report but such report shall be reduced to writing by the child abuse coordinator of the local department on a form prescribed by the State Board of Social Services. The person required to make the report shall disclose all information which is the basis for his suspicion of abuse or neglect of the child and, upon request, shall make available to the child-protective services coordinator and the local department of social services, which is the agency of jurisdiction, any records or reports which document the basis for the report.
A1. For purposes of subsection A, "reason to suspect that a child is abused or neglected" shall include (i) a finding made by an attending physician within seven days of a child's birth that the results of a blood or urine test conducted within forty-eight hours of the birth of the child indicate the presence of a controlled substance not prescribed for the mother by a physician; (ii) a finding by an attending physician made within forty-eight hours of a child's birth that the child was born dependent on a controlled substance which was not prescribed by a physician for the mother and has demonstrated withdrawal symptoms; (iii) a diagnosis by an attending physician made within seven days of a child's birth that the child has an illness, disease or condition which, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, is attributable to in utero exposure to a controlled substance which was not prescribed by a physician for the mother or the child; or (iv) a diagnosis by an attending physician made within seven days of a child's birth that the child has fetal alcohol syndrome attributable to in utero exposure to alcohol. When "reason to suspect" is based upon this subsection, such fact shall be included in the report along with the facts relied upon by the person making the report.
B. Any person required to file a report pursuant to this section who fails to do so within seventy-two hours of his first suspicion of child abuse or neglect shall be fined not more than $500 for the first failure and for any subsequent failures not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.
I'm done, you're right, I don't care anymore.
Hang the doctor, shoot him, have him imprisoned for pedophilia.
IAAL
[Edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE on 01-26-2001 at 04:16 PM]
Screaming kids or not...