“Did your wife ever stop to think that maybe the woman needed help with her knee so she could be come more mobile and lose the weight?”
Wont work. A 5’0” woman with replacement knees will damage the replacement knees. I have a 900 lb horse. If he ate until he weighed 1800 lbs, he’d have leg problems too.
Need to lose weight? Start with eating less. There were no fat inmates in the Nazi work camps. Eat, less, repeat as needed, and weight WILL come off. Having fought the battle of the bulge for 60 years, I know it isn’t EASY. But a 300+ lb woman who is 5’ 0” tall will have painful knees. And knee replacement surgery will not allow her to take up jogging.
“I understand your point about who is paying for elective surgery, but in England - you pay no matter what, as part of taxes...”
Yes, and since England is unwilling to increase taxes even FURTHER to pay for never-ending medical care, someone is going to lose out on their “free health care”. Because no health care is “free”. So....let those lose out who have issues that can be dealt with by lifestyle changes. And those in the final weeks of life might lose their lives a few weeks early.
Oh well. The only way to control your health care is to pay the bills yourself.
It all boils down to this: SOMEONE has to pay. And the people who WANT free things will always exceed those willing to BUY them free things.
My horse hurt his leg recently. I had to choose: Pay $500+ for a vet to come out and tell me he has a sore leg, or try to reduce his movement while the sore leg heals. I chose option #2. I do the same thing when it involves myself. And when it is government provided health care, then the government gets to choose. If their choices are not in line with the voters, they will become the FORMER government.
Maybe not...but since we don't know the details specifically...it's hard to stand in judgment.
Is it your view that anyone who has problems which may have been previously self-inflicted are now irredeemable and shouldn't have any procedure which would make their life more bearable or productive?