now I’ve seen it all
This MSNBC.com story has me shocked, shocked.
Doctor in trouble for calling patient obese
As doctors warn more patients that they should lose weight, the advice has backfired on one doctor, with a woman filing a complaint with the state, saying he was hurtful, not helpful.
A patient should complain if a doc says "You’re a fat pig" or something similarly disrespectful. But the term "obese" is factual, quantitative, objective. You reach a certain level of bodyweight and the excess is adipose tissue rather than muscle, and bingo: you’re obese, end of story.
Here’s what the doc says he said:
“I told a fat woman she was obese,” Bennett says. “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.’"
Are we a nation of sniveling ninnies who can’t face reality? Is there anything wrong with what this doctor said? If I show up at a doctor’s office, isn’t it his or her job to tell me what my physical problems are and how I’m responsible for dealing with them?
