Posted on 08/26/2005 5:58:07 AM PDT by billorites
ROCHESTER DOCTOR Terry Bennett told an obese patient she was fat and should lose weight, and for that the state board of medicine is trying to discipline him. Sounds like board members need to see a doctor themselves — to have their heads examined.
Dr. Bennett said his patient was merely overweight when he first told her to drop some pounds. Because she didn’t listen to him, she eventually became obese and developed diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux and chest pains, he said. Then he really got stern with her.
“I told a fat woman she was obese,” he said. “I tried to get her attention. I told her you need to get on a program, join a group of like-minded people and peel off the weight that is going to kill you.”
Rather than thank the doctor for trying to save her life, the patient filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Board of Medicine. That in itself was absurd. But the real lunacy came when the board objected to a subcommittee’s recommendation simply to send the doctor a letter of concern and instead asked the Attorney General’s office to investigate.
Imagine. With all the real crime the Attorney General’s office has to handle, the board of medicine thought it would be a good use of a state attorney’s time to investigate whether a doctor was too harsh when he told a patient her obesity would kill her.
If the board succeeds in disciplining Dr. Bennett, then every physician in the state will think twice before giving unhealthy patients the advice they need. Some might even feel the need to run their advice by an attorney before giving it. Such a chilling effect would endanger people’s lives, and it cannot be allowed to happen. Doctors must be able to speak freely to their patients, even if it means hurting their feelings.
The board of medicine consists of eight members appointed by the governor to five-year terms. At the first opportunity, Gov. John Lynch should replace any member who voted to have Dr. Bennett investigated by the Attorney General’s office and officially wrist-slapped by the board. Anyone who thinks that sternly warning a patient to lose weight is a no-no for a doctor does not belong in a position of authority over the state’s physicians.
The government persists in telling us, by sheer measurements and specifications, whether or not we are too fat. Now doctors aren't supposed to?
Maybe they should just give up and adopt a new slogan:
"Save Social Security - Eat More Twinkies!" ;)
John Edwards will jump right on this one if he is not beat to it.
As a physician I understand that there are wacko patients that blame others for their own mistakes. You can expect the worst from a certain segment of the American population that no matter what you do for them it is never enough. I had a patient that accused my nurses and me of trying to rape him with a colonoscopy...of course the medical board dismissed his ridiculous claim instantly...unfortunately, now he has metastatic colon cancer....in the old times that was called natural selection by Charles Darwin. And that obese patient not only will she have diabetes, chest pains...she will develop pulmonary hypertension, sleep apnea, coronary artery disease, renal failure, strokes, diabetic retinopathy (blindness), bilateral leg amputations and will be hemodialysis...all because she refuses to obey doctor's orders. This is another example of natural selection according to Darwin. And you know what? We will pay for her treatments because she will exhaust her insurance limit very quickly.
didn't they rule that obesity IS a disability?
also, i'm starting to not feel bad when people start taking actions like this against doctors as new stupid privacy (that cut back on privacy) laws come out. for example, instead of complete doctor- patient confidentiality, doctors in some states are now reporting drinking habits of their patients to the DMV. so if you go to your doctor and tell him you drink daily, even if you never drink and drive, do your drinking at home, whatever, you can find your license suspended.
there is entirely too much politics in law and medicine, and too much BS in politics. all three need to be completely renovated.
Being obese takes YEARS of overeating and not moving the fat butt off the sofa.
Most obese people simply do not have the backbone to deal with gluttony or sloth. They just don't have it. No medical science can deal with the REAL problem. All that can be done is to deal with the results.
They are doomed.
A couch cow is a couch cow is a couch cow!
Demand a trial. The lawyers and plaintiff won't stand a chance.
There was a case within the past six months or so in which a woman won a judgment against her late husband's doctor, because he didn't try hard enough to get the guy to quit smoking, and he eventually died of lung cancer.
It's only a matter of time until the filthy buccanneers of the plaintiff's bar extend the same theory to weight loss. Badger your patients to lose weight at every visit, or get sued. But you mustn't hurt their feelings, or the medical board and attorney general will investigate you.
I don't understand why anyone would go into medicine in today's climate.
-ccm
That's one of the more asinine statements I've ever heard on FR, and that is saying something.
Firstly, your doctor didn't ask for this law, and he has no choice in the matter. If the state says he has to do this kind of reporting or lose his license, he is going to do it no matter how much he disagrees. Punishing him by reporting him to the state medical board is ineffective and unfair. Even though the complaint will be dismissed, he will still have to hire a lawyer and take time out of his schedule for the investigation. And the complaint remains a matter of public record, so its stigma persists even if it is dismissed.
Secondly, we have always had many other exceptions to doctor-patient confidentiality. If you tell the doctor you are planning to kill someone, or he finds evidence of child abuse, he is not only allowed but required to notify the authorities. Your fellow citizens, through their legislators, have decided that immoderate drinking habits are an intolerable threat to their safety and need to be treated the same way. We can debate the accuracy and wisdom of this proposal, but don't take it out on the doctor. Write your state representative instead.
-ccm
"didn't they rule that obesity IS a disability?"
LOL oh yeah I forgot. Thats ridiculous too.
no, its not that they have to, its that they are "allowed" to.
i think that if i want to sit at home a drink a 6 pack a night, since its perfectly legal, i should be able to do that, and tell my doctor, in case it has any bearing on a medical condition, without worrying that he might report me to DMV and cause me to lose my license.
the only thing a doctor stands to lose is his ability to treat me properly.
You are so right.
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