This is just . . . weird

[pegkerr]

Doctor in trouble for calling woman obese.

The story doesn't say exactly how he phrased what he said to her. I gotta think there is more to the story here.

It makes me think of that term Berke Breathed coined: "Offensensitivity."

Comments

[althea_valara]

Dr. Terry Bennett says he tells obese patients their weight is bad for their health and their love lives

Hmm. Personally, unless I am complaining about my lack of a love life to my doctor, I don't think any doctor has the right to say that excess weight will impact my love life. Because (a) that's my private business, and (b) plenty of overweight/obese people have healthy, fulfilling love lives. So I would be pretty ticked if he said something like that.

Even so, I'm not sure it's right of her to sue. America is too lawsuit happy these days, and I don't really like it. If it was me, I'd just find a new doc and badmouth him to all my friends, so they know not to go to him.

[cornfields.livejournal.com]

It's no longer PC to call someone out on their fatness? Jesus Christ. There are no words.

[megd.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I think there might not be. Dad's gotten threats from patients that he was out of line to suggest they floss. People are crazy these days, especially when you dare to suggest they are wrong.

You know I hate getting lectures from my doctor about my weight. But that's what he's for.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

Hmp.

I've been told I need to lose weight by doctors. I thank them and tell them what I'm doing toward those ends, and then I expect to move on. When doctors can't move on, I lose respect for them, and make things very, very blunt. I've found, "I have a history of eating disorders. I'm not willing to talk about this any more," works pretty well - but I don't like having to bring out the artillary. While my weight is one part of my health, it's certainly not the whole thing, or even the most important part.

(Moreover, I had doctors talking to me about losing weight for a decade before anyone bothered to find out that I have a completely nonfunctional thyroid. Let's look a little less at symptoms and a little more at causes, shall we? Weight is not a neutral, judgment-free subject even in the doctor's office, however much people may want to think it is. There is prejudice - prejudgment - against both those who are thought to be too fat and those who are thought to be too thin; somehow, in this country, it's got the quality of a moral issue.)

The article quotes him as saying that he tries to 'get their attention.' My understanding of this is that he feels that making broader or more personal statements may startle people into 'paying attention.' I can understand why he'd feel the urge, but it's not a good plan.

If any doctor told me I needed to lose weight for the sake of my love life, as he freely states he does, I'd raise one heck of a stink. That's unprofessional, insulting, and untrue.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

"Call someone out?"

That seems like an odd phrase to use. I'd 'call someone out' about bad behavior, not about a body characteristic.

Maybe that's just how I hear it, though. These things are personal, I know.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Isn't "obese" a medical term?

[redbird]

Context matters. I have a friend whose doctor insisted on giving her a "you should lose weight" speech and ignored the reason she was in his office: a broken ankle.

It's remotely possible a thinner woman wouldn't have fallen, but the doctor didn't want to treat the broken bone because he was fixated on her weight.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Note that the story says she filed a complaint with the medical board, not that she sued.

[cornfields.livejournal.com]

I probably should've phrased it a bit differently. My grandma used to use that phrase, and by it she meant "telling it like it is." If you have a long history with your doctor, and he knows of your overall health issues, I don't think he's out of line by suggesting weight loss as a way to improve your health and your lifestyle. It's certainly true.

I am currently around 40 pounds overweight. That may not seem like too much, but 40 pounds is a lot for someone with a barely-5'3" frame to carry. I *know* that I should lose weight. My doctor told me that I should lose the weight because she knows of my family history of weight-related problems, such as diabetes. I didn't get angry with my doctor for suggesting such, I was angry and ashamed with myself because I know my doctor was right, and I'd been eating whatever, whenever I pleased. If she'd mentioned that my love life would improve if I lost the weight, I'd admit that she was correct in that assumption.

I know weight can be a touchy issue with people, because it's a touchy issue with me, too. I've always been a plump girl. But I don't accept that I should "embrace my fatness." I DO accept that no matter what I weigh, I won't look like a supermodel. I love my body and its quirks, and my husband loves me just the way I am. And I may never weigh 115 pounds again, but that's okay, too. All I care about, and all my doctor cares about, is that I'm as healthy as I can possibly be. :)

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Actually, your doctor is there to respond to and treat the health problems you go to him for. If you ask him for general advice on how to improve your health then, yes, he might remark on your weight if he thinks that might be a problem. Unless you ask, though, I can't see where it is his business.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

There probably is more to the story. Far too many doctors, as erickavan can attest, see a patient's weight more than they see the reason their patient is in their office. If this doctor remarked on the woman's weight when it did not relate to her presenting problem or, as the story seems to suggest, was indelicate about how he thought her weight might affect other parts of her life, that's out of line.

[megd.livejournal.com]

As a former medical student, we were taught it was our job to address all health complaints, including dianosis of things the patient may not want to hear.

Obesity has major health complications. Diabetes, hypertension, stroke, etc. A patient may not want to hear it, but the doctor has an obligation to work in the patient's best interests.

You're sadly mistaken if you think your doctor's only job is to tell you what you want to hear.

[pameladean]

I'd complain too. He's perpetuating a nasty stereotype about fat people in the line about her love life. If she didn't ask him about it, what the hell business has he got bringing it up? Also, you know, he is really wrong about the weight. It's not going to kill her. If she is sedentary and makes a lot of food choices that are bad for her, that could kill her.

P.



P.

[althea_valara]

Ah! Thanks. I'm multitasking like mad this morning so probably read the article too fast and assumed some things that weren't true.

[megd.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's defined as a body mass index over 30. Being overweight is between 25 and 30.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I didn't say the doctor's job is to tell one only what one wants to hear. If, however, a patient has come for a specific problem (see redbird's anecdote below) remarking on the patient's weight, when it has little or nothing to do with that problem is not what most people want out of their doctor.

And don't be so certain about the health complications of obesity. Most studies that show health problems related to weight use as their study group people that have been yo-yo dieting and fail to take into account the stress that dieting has on the body. I'm not saying there's no health problems that are related to obesity, but there are plenty of healthy people out there that are labelled "obese" because of where they fall on a chart.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Hear hear. I fired one doctor over her obsession on my weight, as much as telling me that all of my chronic health issues were certainly caused by my weight. Um, but what about the issues that have been there since I was a small (non-obese) child?

And if a doctor told me that my love life would improve if I lost weight, I would laugh in his/her face. Before telling him/her to do something anatomically impossible and removing myself from his/her office, on my way to file a complaint.

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Difficulty losing weight is a symptom of both hypothyroid and PCOS. For years before I was diagnosed with both, I dieted and exercised and struggled and got to the verge of suicide over my weight.

I had doctors who called me lazy and said I had no willpower. I had doctors who pooh-poohed every issue I went in to address, telling me it would just go away if I lost weight. I have a knee that has gone from bad to worse over the years because no doctor would even x-ray it -- "it's just stressed from weight, lose weight and it will get better." Funny, when a doctor finally addressed it, it turns out to be an issue with the cartilage which is going to be a problem fat or thin, and which has hurt me at my lowest and highest weights.

When I finally spent two years researching my own symptoms and took a 3 inch thick notebook of information to a new doctor, she *finally* ran the tests for PCOS. Guess what? Now I go to one of the top endocrinologists in the country, who tells me with my endocrine conditions he doubts I'll be able to lose very much weight, and I need to focus on being as healthy at this weight as I can.

I don't think anyone who hasn't been obese quite understands just how rude and dismissive doctors can be about it. I had a doctor scribble a "prescription" on his little pad and hand it to me as I left my appointment. It said "Put down fork. Push away from the table." I had a doctor ask me if I ever looked in the mirror. I've had exactly one doctor not familiar with my underlying symptoms tell me they were concerned about my weight and ask if I'd like to address it. That's the appropriate way to handle it. Not by degrading and abusing the patient.

And I don't seem to have any problems finding people who think I'm attractive, regardless of my own struggle with self-esteem. If this doctor actually thinks he has the right to tell his patients that their weight and their love lives are connected, I would safely bet the entire contents of my bank account that he is flat out rude and whatever he specifically said to this woman was traumatic for her. Good for her for reporting him rather than just going home feeling like utter crap and hating herself, like so many of us have done for years. Being a doctor isn't a license to be cruel.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

It's certainly a doctor's job to let you know about conditions that threaten your health. The woman may have been as frustrated as angry.

I doubt that she was unaware of any extra weight she's carrying; being told what you already know isn't all that helpful. Many of us who are overweight feel nearly helpless in the face of the underlying emotional issues that bring on overeating. Being told that it threatens your life, and being told to diet, without being told how to do it successfully, can be enormously frustrating - doctors who don't understand this could improve by learning as much.

[megd.livejournal.com]

What they want out of a doctor? Right. That's why when she croaks her family will sue for malpractice because the doctor didn't do enough. Trust me, I've seen it, over and over.

Actually, I'm pretty certain about the health effects. As a public health student, it's one of our focuses, second only to tobacco. These are long term health effects. Just because there are people out there healthy now and obese doesn't mean that the studies showing connections between being overweight or obese (incidentally, it's been proven using rat models, removing the yoyo dieting connection) are invalid.

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

I had a doctor scribble a "prescription" on his little pad and hand it to me as I left my appointment. It said "Put down fork. Push away from the table."

Unbelievable. Just... I'm so lucky, at 5'2" and over 230 pounds, never to have had something like this happen to me. I did have the RN who insisted I see a nutritionist despite the fact that I'm very well-educated about nutrition (and trust me, she wasn't nice about it). That turned out to be great though, because the nutritionist and I really hit it off. She adored me and wanted to put me on a body-image panel, though that never panned out.

[dreamcoat-mom.livejournal.com]

I saw the news story this morning. I also saw the way in which this man interacts with people. He is definitely NOT a people person, judging by his verbal diatribe, I'd guess (and that's only a guess) that his "apology" was probably pretty left-handed. Whether he had his patient's best interest at heart is irrelevant. He approached the problem in such a way that the Dr./Patient relationship was completely destroyed, precluding any chance of saving that patient's health - I would LOVE to hear the patient's side of it before rushing to judgment in favor of the nice, thin doctor.

I'm overweight - have been for most of my adult life. I've dieted strictly, exercised, had surgery, done EVERYTHING because doctors have told me I'll be dead by the age of 50 if I don't halt my self-destruct course. Despite all that, I still stubbornly remain a size 20. It's my grandmother's body - the exact same shape, her bosom, her hips, her tiny hands and feet. She lived to be 93, and was NOT an overeater. I don't have high blood pressure, my blood sugar is fine, my heart is strong, I move just fine - I'm just not thin.

I met with a nutritionist and kept a strict food diary. What I found was that I eat a healthy balance of foods at normal portions, occasionally going after sugar or starch unnecessarily, but not habitually enough to condemn me as a "self-destruct" case. She said I was doing great, just to watch sugar and starch intakes, and be mindful of how much fat is in a meal - but I do that anyhow for my family's sake.

What upsets me about the medical community and the issue of obesity is the insistence that ALL medical issues stem from the weight, and the insistence that despite the laws of heredity, everyone was born to be thin. They may be treating thin people for medical issues, but won't treat someone my size until I lose weight FIRST. Given my history, that's not likely to happen, so can I assume that I'll go untreated? I have some hormonal issues that are plaguing me in ways that are becoming debilitating, yet the last doctor I went to will not treat me until I lose weight. I did lose a couple of dress sizes (from a 22 to an 18) but can't go any further. The symptoms that were supposedly caused by my weight have actually increased and I'm afraid to go back. Until I screw up the courage again, I'll go untreated.

For those who have never fought their weight in any real sense (I'm not talking about 10-15 vanity pounds) the issue is often equated with a lack of moral character. Yet many of us lead active, engaged lives, and have plenty of self-discipline - often more, because I have to think, really think about everything that goes in my mouth - otherwise I'll metabolize it WAY too efficiently.

As to the issue of my "desirability," (to quote the not-so-nice doctor in question who told his patient that her obese husband would die of his obesity, leaving her an undesirable candidate for re-marriage) I am NOT married to an obese person. He is tall, dark and handsome - well-preserved for his age, and he is still very open about his physical attraction to me. He tells me that he thinks of me during his work day, that he loves the feel of me under his hands - in short, that I am desirable. As for the singles market...I don't think I need my doctor to assess my hypothetical chances there. I need him or her to assess my health.

Do I think Dr. Feelgood should be sued and lose his license? No. But he DOES deserve to show up on national TV with "A**hat" written all over him. And he did.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Nothing provided says anything about this woman's health condition other than her doctor thought she was obese. So her croaking and her family suing for malpractice (while it might happen) is a straw-man argument. The question at hand is whether or not the doctor should make unsolicited comments about her weight when they have no direct correlation to the problem she is seeing a doctor about. For example, if you saw your doctor about a sinus infection and, after describing your symptoms, his first comment was, "You know, you could stand to gain 20 pounds." I'm suggesting that would be seen as odd and inappropriate. Likewise, if he suggested you lose weight. We don't know why the woman in the article first saw her doctor, but given that she complained, I'd guess it didn't have to do with her weight or a weight-related health problem.

I'm also not saying that there are no long-term health problems associated with obesity. I do think it far more important to live in a healthy manner (eating nutritous foods, getting adequate exercise, maintaining mental stimulation) than to worry about the 10, 40, or 100 pounds one weighs over some arbitrary number.

[cornfields.livejournal.com]

Being told that it threatens your life, and being told to diet, without being told how to do it successfully, can be enormously frustrating - doctors who don't understand this could improve by learning as much.

Agreed. I find the "how" immensely frustrating, and have tried many different methods. The only thing my doctor suggested as a way to lose weight was to try to exercise at least three times a week. She said that I should do research on diets and nutrition, or go to a nutritionalist, to find out what the best eating program is for me. My current diet is pretty common sense, actually; I *really* needed to cut down on my portion sizes. That's helped me a great deal.

[vass]

I've read you telling that anecdote before - on Usenet, I think. It never stops making me furious. I don't think the doctor could have chosen a clearer way to demonstrate that he wasn't concerned for her health, he was trying to control her body.

I guess if I'm this angry it at least means I'm paying attention, right?