Doctor in trouble for calling patient obese

~~The problem with this whole article is that is the patient's word or interpretation of what the dr. said vs. the doctor and what was said and how it was said. If they actually said the reason to lose weight would be her love life, who knows what the rest of the conversation was before that? It is not the best way to help a patient with a problem, and certainly her love life is not a life threatening problem resulting from her obesity. I am certainly not defending him if that is truly how it transpired. In dealing with patients and even children as young as 2 or 3 with severe obesity and it's resulting problems, there is much education and help needed. Making headlines about potentially bringing a lawsuit against someone who is trying to help a patient overcome a severe and potentially fatal disease is a very sad statement about our society.:-(~~

This is a good point too. Patients can misinterpret instructions or questions. I have to be honest, my doctor could say something like this to me and I wouldn't be offended. It goes back to what Nancy posted about knowing the patient and individualizing care. He may have used poor judgment in his choice of approach for this patient regarding a senstive subject. I've witnessed this.

Is there a story somewhere that she may bring a lawsuit? What grounds? This isn't malpractice.

If it were me, I would have told him I didn't appreciate his approach and move on from there. Patients need to communicate their needs. It may not always prove successful, but it is a good place to start. Did she tell him she did't appreciate his assumption regarding her love life?

I think a "doctor in trouble for calling patient obese" is a sad statement about our society. If he was sincere in his care and this has been blown out of proportion, this specific story is very sad. However, if he was unprofessional & inappropriate, I hope that people don't find the behavior acceptable. As you pointed out Susan, we don't know what transpired. I hope this doesn't impact our care negatively.
 
Thanks for chiming in, Susan. It's nice to know that the medical profession does think of us as people. I'd love to get a new doctor, but there aren't any in my area accepting new patients, especially if you already HAVE a family physician. I don't weigh 154 anymore, I weigh about 130, but I still feel uncomfortable getting weighed at the doctor!
 
I take care of mostly children and truly care
>about each one even for the short time I have them during
>surgery. Though, I must say, it's the parents that are often
>the difficult ones!

You are so right. My husband is a pediatric neurologist and I think he would probably agree with your remarks. I feel sorry for most doctors. Let's face it--you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. People don't understand the level of commitment required to do this work, which is often thankless. They don't see how much work is done on their behalf behind the scenes. They don't realize the personal sacrifices that doctors often have to make. I'm not trying to whine here. My husband and I knew what we were getting into and chose to do it. The work is fulfilling in many ways. But please people--don't call your doctor at 3AM to tell him you ran out of a prescription. I wish I had a nickel for everytime that happened. LOL

Michele
 
>I believe that things are going to change though. Baby
>boomers are too self-orientated to accept this kind of care,
>or lack of it. I already see a lot of baby boomers going
>outside their health care plans and just paying for good
>health care out of their own pockets. I've done it a few times
>myself. When you pay $15 to see a dr., you get what you pay
>for. When you pay a dr. $300 for a visit, they spend the time
>with you and give you advice tailored to who you are and what
>you need.


nancy, Please don't think I'm being disrespectful, but I don't think a doctor should be concerned about how much a patient can pay. They have an ethical obliagation to treat all patients (regardless of income) with the best medical care that they can give. I couldn't imagine paying $300 a pop for me, my husband and four kids just for a doctor who puts a price tag on the quality of his health care. I mean really, that would cost me $1000.00 a month just to get better medical advice then my "insured" doctor. Who can afford that?
 
You aren't alone, Nancy. My sister had the same experience, except he told her she was anorexic when she wasn't. It was bizarre. She's still working on it, at age 32.

I guess I got lucky- all he told me was that I had insulin-dependent diabetes!! LOL

I hated that pediatrician. My mom says she took us to him because she thought he'd be good since "he wrote a book". I didn't ask her if she had even read that book before scheduling us with him. He was icky. I vote for hunting him down... }(
 
Michele- I can't believe that!!! LOL, over a prescription.

I think the simple truth is that life is messy, and the fear of dying is even messier. For all involved on either side- patient or doctor.

I'm in an HMO right now, I went to see my MD last week and he wanted to put me on cholesterol medication. Because my LDL (?) was 106 and he wants it under 100. The lab range is 100-130. I told him no way. I already take blood pressure medicine to protect my kidneys, and I know I take too much of that because I get dizzy standing up very often. I told him that I am 28, I exercise 6 days a week, don't currently have a health problem (aside from diabetes which I've had since I was 10 and I'm doing far better than average on that), I take as good care of myself as I can, and am not going to start taking a medication for the rest of my life based on one lab result. Thankfully, he backed down quickly before it came to blows.

It's sad, but true- the only one who cares and knows about your health is you. You have to educate yourself, and shop around for a doctor's opinion you can live with. I consider my doctors consultants who can give me a prescription for the medication I need. Beyond that, I'm on my own.:)
 
How miserable that you are locked into a relationship with a physician that doesn't seem to mesh for you! I hate that insurance companies dictate who you can see and can't. I know, we could all pay out of the pocket to see a physician, but don't we all already pay a bunch of money to our insurance companies that they are unwilling to give up for patient care!
 
>
>Is there a story somewhere that she may bring a lawsuit? What
>grounds? This isn't malpractice.
>
Sorry, I may have interpreted the whole thing incorrectly. A reprimend from the board or worse, revoking his medical liscense is even a worse possiblity. If you lose your medical liscens, he has lost his livlihood. I hope for the sake of the profession, that this doesn't go any further.
 
Most physicians don't even know whether you are self pay, copay, medicare or medicaid. The business office and/or front desk takes care of all that before hand. I have several surgeons that I work with that have done procedures gratis because their patients were self pay. Believe me, the Dr. Fee is a small part of the whole thing. Also, unlike dentists, a physician really doesn't make up what they charge. It is dicated by insurance companies. The facility fee is a HUGE part of the bill for surgery.. The patient has to pay that no matter what!
 
Ritko-
I didn't express myself very well. I'm not suggesting that everyone pay for their own medical care, I'm just saying that people are getting fed up with our current system. I've been to drs. where the patients are actually scheduled 10 mins apart! I kid you not. I assume the reason for this lack of care is lack of money. I assume that the insurance cos. are not paying the drs. enough to keep them afloat, and that the insurance cos. are pressuring them to see more people for less time. It's not the drs. fault AT ALL.

As a baby boomer, I also know that there are a lot of patients who simply refuse to take it anymore, that baby boomers are I-me-mine kind of people who generally have money and who will make themselves heard. My wishful thinking says the whole system is going to experience a shake-up, hopefully set off by us defiant baby boomers, and I expect that the generations behind us will be the lucky beneficiaries of big changes in this wacky system.

This is all just a hunch from someone who doesn't know a thing about the subject, though. It's just based upon what I see around me in the New York area, which may not be representative of anything.

I'd be happy to hear from someone who is actually involved in the medical industry as to what changes, if any, we can expect in the system.
 
>You know, I read these types of things, and it makes me glad
>I live in a country that isn't quite so litigious as yours.


How true! It seems that nowdays, people will sue for anything, and at the drop of a hat. And, even worse, some people who file some of these seemingly frivolous, stupid lawsuits actually win!
 
Some interesting facts:
1) Lawsuits are so common that statistically, every doc will be sued at least twice during the course of his/her career.
2) Lawsuits are brought about by people who "perceive" that their doc has committed malpractice. It is NOT an indication that malpractice has actually occurred.
3) The effects of lawsuits on the cost of health care are incalculable.
4) Many great docs have had to leave practice because of the outrageous increases in the cost of malpractice insurance, thereby leaving us with severe shortages of docs in various specialties like surgery and OB/GYN.

Michele
 
The doctor went a little too far with the "companionship" comment but he basically told the patient something she did not want to hear: that she is fat and needs to cut the weight. Alot more people need to hear bluntness like that rather than looking for compassion all of the time. Get off your ass, make the effort to learn what needs to be done, and apply it.
 
I have a friend who is approximately 58 years of age. She retired about 3-4 years ago but we still keep in touch. Her weight has yo-yo'd 100 lbs for the past 20 years. As soon as she loses the weight, in about 3 months time, she puts it all back on. Although she quit smoking about 5 years ago, her health has been terrible in the sense that her cholesterol is up, she has had foot problems galore and a bad gall bladder that had to be removed. I have always tried to encourage her to exercise and even went to WW with her for awhile. But, she always finds some excuse why she can't keep it up.

She called me last week and said she might have to have a triple bipass last Thursday because she hadn't been taking her cholesterol medicine and was having severe pain in her arm and the doctor said this would be the worst case outcome. She was very afraid of course!

I got an email from her after her appointment saying that her heart was fine and that ALL SHE HAD TO DO was lose weight and exercise and ain't life grand and all that. This was the worst thing this doctor could have said to her! I wish he would have scared her because maybe it would sink in.

I guess I got angry because I wrote back telling her she was extremely lucky and berated her for thinking "this is all I have to do" when she hasn't EVER stuck to these things. She wrote back and said she appreciated my bluntness but I'm not so sure she'll take this warning! I don't understand her behavior and it upsets me.
 
Nice On Ice-

In case you hadn't noticed, Honeybunch is back. So the "tough love" "just do it" attitude is covered.

Seriously, though, in my opinion, bluntness may work well for men, but women tend to be hard on themselves and often do better with compassion and gentleness than with bluntness.

-Nancy
 
Nancy,

I must be the exception because I want people to be blunt and direct with me. The counselor that got me through the roughest times of my life told me like it was and I so appreciate it!
 
Ajock is right - if this doctor had said to the woman - you need to quit smoking and so does your husband - he'll die first and then, you'll be a single smoker - and no one wants to marry a smoker! No one would have blinked an eye - but because its obesity, there's hell to pay! Smokers put up with a lot of abuse because of thier habit and everyone thinks its okay!

This woman just got a taste of what its like to be a smoker (btw, I'm not - but use to be!)
 
<in my opinion, bluntness may work well for men, but women tend to be hard on themselves and often do better with compassion and gentleness than with bluntness.>

I agree based on my experience. There are always exceptions, but in general women respond to compassion. I think so much depends on the circumstances, provider/client relationship, and tone.
 
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