Overweight? Sorry, the doctor won't see you.
Some ob-gyn doctors in the U.S. are turning away women who are overweight, citing higher risks of complications in obese patients, according to the Sun Sentinel newspaper in Florida.
"People don't realize the risk we're taking by taking care of these patients," Miami doctor Albert Triana told the newspaper. "There's more risk of something going wrong and more risk of getting sued. Everything is more complicated with an obese patient in GYN surgeries and in [pregnancies]"
Besides the fear of getting slapped with a medical-malpractice lawsuit, some doctors said their examination tables and other equipment can't handle overweight patients. Some noted it can be particularly difficult diagnosing certain problems, since their ultrasound machines can't give quality images when used on obese women.
Given that one-third of U.S. adults are considered obese, it's perhaps no surprise that the exclusion of overweight patients has raised concerns.
"Overweight people need doctors," Robert Yelverton, a board member of the Florida Obstetric and Gynecologic Society, told the Sun Sentinel. "I don't know where a patient in that situation would go if every practice had that policy."
"This completely goes against the principles of being a doctor," added James Zervios, spokesman for the Obesity Action Coalition in Tampa, Fla.. "Health-care professionals are there to help individuals improve their quality of health, not stigmatize them according to their weight."
In Canada, doctors can't discriminate against patients on such grounds as age, gender, medical condition, sexual orientation and political affiliation under the Canadian Medical Association's code of ethics. However, the code says, "This does not abrogate the physician's right to refuse to accept a patient for patient for legitimate reasons."
What do you think? Is it discriminatory to exclude overweight patients, or a legitimate precaution?