Court stops payout to obese man

[grandmoon]

A court decision to award a morbidly obese man more than $350,000 from his doctor because the GP failed to refer him to a weight-loss clinic or send him for lap-band surgery has been overturned on appeal.

Emmanuel Varipatis, a Manly GP, said he was relieved the Supreme Court ruling had been overturned.

The medical fraternity had been concerned that holding doctors legally responsible for their patients' failure to shed weight would become an ''intolerable burden''.

The case involved Luis Almario, a Colombian-born revolutionary who once stood for state parliament.

He was in the care of Dr Varipatis from 1997 to 2011. The court found in February that Dr Varipatis had been negligent in not sending Mr Almario, 68, to an obesity clinic or arranging for a surgeon to assess his suitability for gastric-band surgery. Mr Almario weighed 140 kilograms and was 154 centimetres tall. Justice

Stephen Campbell found Mr Almario had terminal liver cancer as a result of liver disease linked to his obesity and awarded him $364,000.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the judgment. It found the evidence of GPs did not suggest a doctor was obliged to do more than ''take reasonable care'' of a patient by advising weight loss - which Dr Varipatis had done. ''The duty of care stopped short of requiring an exercise in futility.''

Medical insurer Avant, which led the appeal, said the original decision had caused significant concern in the industry because it might have forced GPs to ''practise defensively''.

Dr Varipatis told GP industry journal Medical Observer he felt exonerated but was sorry for Mr Almario's state of health: "I realise that he and his family will be very disappointed and upset right now.''

Mr Almario, of North Parramatta, has been given less than a year to live and is being cared for at home by his wife. His solicitor did not return calls.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/court-stops-payout-to-obese-man-20130420-2i6wt.html#ixzz2SOsXuzaw

[clair.de.lune]

Yeah but but if you were it would be alright

[twinkles**stars]

Twinks- we are a nation of obese people. not sure if you've noticed. are you going to make excuses for all of them?

you believe I am making up an excuse for J?  She counts calories watches her every mouthful walks miles......research anti rejection drugs

[nevynreally]

This news story is not about someone you know who's had a liver transplant. It's about a man who has been obese for many years blaming his doctor for not fixing him.

As to the DDU accusation, first happened when grandmoon posted an opposing view.

[cherry*135]

The morbidly obese man had been given a referral to an obesity clinic previously by a Dr and had not followed it up.

But today a Court of Appeal tribunal said it accepted expert evidence who said that while a GP “may be obliged… to advise that weight loss is necessary to protect his or her health [and] discuss the means by which that may be achieved”, the GP did not have “any obligation or even power to do more than that”.

Further, the tribunal found that Mr Almario had not acted on another doctor’s referral to an obesity clinic.
“Accordingly, there was no ground to conclude that had [Mr Almario] referred the plaintiff to an obesity clinic the plaintiff would have acted on the referral or lost weight,” it said.

http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/gp-wins-appeal-against-364k-payout-to-obese-man

“[Mr Almario] did not establish that he would have accepted a referral to an obesity clinic, or obtained the resulting benefits, having failed to act on a previous referral. Nor did the plaintiff establish that weight loss would have followed from a timely referral to a hepatologist.”

[Anonymous]

no twinks, I dont think you are making excuses for your friend, rather all fatties.

your friend is the exception.

[vampire-teddy]

there are some overweight people who have reasons and some who do not.  why this is anyone else's business but their own is beyond me. a persons weight is completely irrelevant to their worth as a person.  just because a person is big or for that matter very thin does not make a scrap of difference.  society is far too obsessed with the outer shell and no where near enough interested in what makes a decent caring respectful person.  as as far as i am concerned overweight people are taking the brunt of prejudice and abuse now because it is unacceptable to pick on race, religion or sexuality and they are an easy target.  yes it may cause health problems but so do a myriad of other things.  being overweight can result from may reasons including depression, medication, medical condition and yes over eating.  it always strikes me that anorexia and anorexics are given support and help in the world but the other end of the spectrum are ridiculed and treated with judgement.   

and before any posts start making remarks, yes I am overweight.  i put on a great deal of weight while on steroid treatment for arthritis which doctors continued to prescribe long term despite the drug supposed to be a short term treatment.  i have since lost over half weight but still have some way to go.  this however does not change the fact that i am an intelligent decent person in a loving wonderful relationship with a partner who loves me for the person i am not for the way i look.  i hope to lose more weight but how that affects anyone but me i do not know.  i have low cholesterol, no blood pressure issues or diabetes.  i do have arthritis but that started when i was very young fit and a dancer. yes i eat the wrong food sometime but then who doesn't. 

unlike the man in the OPs post i take responsibility.  i would never choose the surgical method as i consider it unnecessary risk in my situation.  if i lose weight i will do it the hard way and if i make by goal weight I will be the same person i always have been bust just a little more understanding of those who do not fit societies perfect norm.

[**meep**]

i think now more than ever, being plus size is more acceptable and its the skinny models that are being heavily criticised.

as far as obesity not being anyone's business.....what impact does it have on our economy?  I read something recently but cant remember the figures exactly.  will try to find it.

[the_bob_delusion]

As I said earlier in our information age. Who needs to be told that being morbidly fat is bad for your health. 

Do you really think there're smokers out there that are oblivious to the dangers of smoking nowadays??

[crystal-gems]

I reckon am*3 is DDU.

[polksaladallie]

You are doing well, Vampire.  Keep going for the sake of your health.  Let us know how you are doing.

While I realise the surgical option is chosen to save lives, I often think it is a bit of a cop-out, taking the "clean up your environment" work out of the problem.