Should Doctors be Allowed

[grandmoon]

To deny surgery to patients who won't follow their direction. ??

A neighbor is complaining that the surgeon has refused to operate on her. 

The doctor wants her to attend exercises in the hospital pool and to also loose some weight before he will do the operation. 

She has refused and he said that he feels that the operation will not be successful unless she does.

[*crikey*mate*]

Has she told the doctor why she wishes to be non compliant with his advice/recommendations and have either of them attempted to find an alternative form of exercise or weight loss management program?

This is an American Article, but it gives insight into how and why this kind of situation should be managed.

[cherry*135]

This is the case freshwater mentioned

An epidemic of obesity is engulfing Australia, and Luis Almario's case raises intriguing questions about personal responsibility versus the medical duty of care.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-26/overweight-man-luis-almario-legal-battle-prompts-obesity-warni...

[imastawka]

I don't much care for the legalities of the situation.   But the doctor has

told her to lose weight.  Simply scare the living daylights out of her

and tell her there's some chance, if she doesn't heed the doctor, that

she may very well die on the table.   All because she couldn't be bothered!

[shoptilludroptara]

yes

i know when i had to have an operation i was asked by my doctor to stop smoking for 2-4 weeks before the op

was hard for me to do but i did it to improve my chances with the op

if they cant get to the place and for the time then make new arrangements with the doc

for somewhere closer at a better time

and yes the doc has the right as he is the one who would be performing the op

the neighbour should wake up and do the right thing and not winge about it

tara

[imastawka]

Sorry am, but that article is about doctors not treating the man for obesity.

The neighbor is being treated for some other complaint and the doc wants

her to lose weight so he can operate.

[purple_haize]

If she is not prepared to do what the dr. suggests, why bother going to the dr. at all.

[***super_nova***]

When I was diagnosed with cancer it took couple of weeks before they had a bed for me so I could have my op.  When i got there 3 beds on the large ward were occupied by grossly overweight patients who were so fat that it was impossible to find their vein to get some blood for tests and they were too big to operate on.  All 3 were there already some weeks, they were on strict diet and the doctors were hoping that they shed some kilos and the op will be possible.  But considering that at least one of them had visitors bringing food, I did not see much hope for that.  Every day, several times a day, the nurses tried to get some blood but just could not.  These patients also had dangerously high blood pressure, and were pretty much bed bound. 

I imagine operating on such people would be very difficult; first unless you can get the test done you do not know what exactly you are facing, and what what if during the op they need quick transfusion? 

Fortunately, my cancer did not spread into my lymph nodes, but it could easily happened in that time I was waiting for my operation.  I wonder how many peoples' illnesses do get worse while they wait for beds occupied by overweight people? 

[cherry*135]

---

@imastawka wrote:

Sorry am, but that article is about doctors not treating the man for obesity.

The neighbor is being treated for some other complaint and the doc wants

her to lose weight so he can operate.

---

It is still applicable for the neighbour in the OP.

personal responsibility versus the medical duty of care.

It is the patients personal responsiblity to lose weight as informed by her Doctor,if she is to have the operation.

It is the doctors medical duty of care not to operate on very overweight people (with the exception of emergency operatons) as it is more dangerous....the surgery, the anaesthetically and recovery takes longer.

If this women died or got seriously incapcitated due to not being allowed to have the operation ..could she sue the Dr. for not operating on her.

No, because she did not follow the Dr's advice.

[cherry*135]

The main point in the story in the link was:

But the payout was overturned after Mr Almario's GP argued, on appeal, that his patient had been warned to lose weight.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

My guess is this is an operation for Obesity.  

For an operation like that you would need to be highly motivated...... She might have proved to him that she is not.

From doing some reading - 

the following conditions need to be met for someone to be offered weight loss surgery. You need:

• To have a BMI of 40 or more, or have a BMI between 35-40 plus a health problem that could be improved if you lost weight. For example, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, severe problems with your mobility, sleep apnoea (difficulties with breathing whilst asleep), etc.
• Already to have been seen and treated by a specialised obesity team.
• Already to have tried all other ways of losing weight for at least six months with no success. These include changes to your diet, an increase in your physical activity levels and treatment with medicines  to help you lose weight.
• To have no health problems that may make the operation dangerous for you.
• To be able to commit to the long-term medical follow-up that is needed after weight loss surgery.
• To have treatment and follow-up by a team of experts specialised in weight loss surgery available to you.