Q: My husband is a bit of a jokester essentially all the time, regardless of who he’s talking to. Several weeks ago, he went alone to a routine appointment with his primary care physician.

When I asked him how the visit went, he was somewhat vague about what was discussed, aside from reporting that his recent test results/blood pressure appeared to be normal or well controlled.

I had no particular concerns about any of this, as it was similar to his previous visits with this doctor. However, about 10 days after the visit, an Adult Protective Services (APS) worker rang our doorbell, when my husband was away from the home on an errand, informing me that she was required to investigate a possible spousal-abuse situation. Why did this happen?

A: When I met with you and your husband a month or so after this APS visit, I rather pointedly questioned him about precisely how he responded to the questions the Medical Assistant is legally required to ask of EVERY patient at EVERY visit, including one about feeling safe in the home environment.

He apparently answered with a remark about feeling safe except for when his wife is home—when he has to be very careful to not upset her, concluding with something like “the beatings will continue until morale improves.: He did not realize that this is not a topic to joke about, as medical personnel at every level of the system are required BY LAW to report to APS such potential situations, even if the patient states that the answer given was just a “joke”, and that Adult/Child Protective Services are required BY LAW to investigate every single such report. Hence the visit to your home by the APS representative, who is required BY LAW to file a report about her investigation, even though no wrong-doing was found.

This report will be quite literally forever present in the APS computer files. In these (sometimes strange) times, it is crucial to answer medical provider questions in a carefully-considered truthful manner, to avoid such unanticipated developments.

I want to thank Katherine J. very much for bringing up this timely and important topic.

If you have any particular topic you would like to hear more about, message me at paulmdake@gmail.com.

To learn more about this and many other health topics, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians’ website familydoctor. org, where you can search for your topic of interest.

Dr. Paul Dake, a Newberry native, is a retired family physician. He lives in Pinconning, Michigan.