dreamer_easy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dreamer_easy) wrote2005-08-29 06:58 pm
dreamer_easy) wrote2005-08-29 06:58 pm
Entry tags:
(no subject)
More thoughts about the SMH article about an obese woman bullied by her doctor. (Lots of intelligent comments follow my original entry.)
What angered me most was the spin put on the story, by the Herald's headline, and all over the net: that all the poor doctor did was his duty, sternly warning her about the health risk of obesity. Some reports don't even mention the actual ugly remarks which sparked the complaint.
Surprise surprise, the complainant is being pilloried on and offline; thank heavens she's remained anonymous - although this means she can't put her side of the story. When it comes to the facts, we haven't got much more than Doctor Bennett's media campaign to defend himself.
Whenever someone is reported as behaving outrageously, especially if they're from a group it's traditional to look down on, suspect that you don't have all the facts.
A separate question is whether bullying the woman was in fact appropriate. If telling her she'll be an ugly widow would save her life, should her doctor in fact do so? I think it's clear from the American Medical Association's Principles of Medical Ethics that the doctor is not obliged to do so: it's the patient's responsibility to follow medical advice and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It's also very clear that they are not ethically allowed to:
Derogatory language or actions on the part of physicians can cause psychological harm to those they target. Also, such language or actions can cause reluctance in members of targeted groups to seek or to trust medical care and thus create an environment that strains relationships among patients, physicians, and the health care team. Therefore, any such conduct is profoundly antithetical to the Principles of Medical Ethics.
- Disrespect and Derogatory Conduct in the Patient-Physician Relationship
In other words, shaming and frightening your patients makes them less likely to do what's necessary for the health - not more likely. In fact, I suspect the most likely response to such bullying is to go home and eat a whole tub of ice cream.
If the doctor involved is routinely bullying his patients, he's breaching medical ethics and most probably contributing to the West's obesity problem rather than battling it. It's not surprising that the New Hampshire Board of Medicine is taking the complaint so seriously (and I can't help but wonder if they've received more than one).
What angered me most was the spin put on the story, by the Herald's headline, and all over the net: that all the poor doctor did was his duty, sternly warning her about the health risk of obesity. Some reports don't even mention the actual ugly remarks which sparked the complaint.
Surprise surprise, the complainant is being pilloried on and offline; thank heavens she's remained anonymous - although this means she can't put her side of the story. When it comes to the facts, we haven't got much more than Doctor Bennett's media campaign to defend himself.
Whenever someone is reported as behaving outrageously, especially if they're from a group it's traditional to look down on, suspect that you don't have all the facts.
A separate question is whether bullying the woman was in fact appropriate. If telling her she'll be an ugly widow would save her life, should her doctor in fact do so? I think it's clear from the American Medical Association's Principles of Medical Ethics that the doctor is not obliged to do so: it's the patient's responsibility to follow medical advice and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It's also very clear that they are not ethically allowed to:
Derogatory language or actions on the part of physicians can cause psychological harm to those they target. Also, such language or actions can cause reluctance in members of targeted groups to seek or to trust medical care and thus create an environment that strains relationships among patients, physicians, and the health care team. Therefore, any such conduct is profoundly antithetical to the Principles of Medical Ethics.
- Disrespect and Derogatory Conduct in the Patient-Physician Relationship
In other words, shaming and frightening your patients makes them less likely to do what's necessary for the health - not more likely. In fact, I suspect the most likely response to such bullying is to go home and eat a whole tub of ice cream.
If the doctor involved is routinely bullying his patients, he's breaching medical ethics and most probably contributing to the West's obesity problem rather than battling it. It's not surprising that the New Hampshire Board of Medicine is taking the complaint so seriously (and I can't help but wonder if they've received more than one).
no subject
Though you may disagree....
But wasn't she there for weight related health problems? My mum (when she was at her biggest of 180+ kgs), was told to either lose weight or she wouldn't see her 40th birthday (and thanks to a stomach stapling... she did). But I remember her telling me about it that he wasn't nice... he painted a grim picture of her in a wheelchair in the following 2 years and dead before her daughter reached 20. That scared her into action. Doesn't always work... but... it's what she needed.
Likewise, my grandfather was told to get off the smokes or he'd be dead in less than 5 years... After the appointment, he got into his car, threw the packet out the window and didn't smoke for 20 years afterwards...
When I saw a doctor about weight loss... he bullishly said "Run, run a mile a day and just don't eat." I grimaced hearing it... and it didn't help, but it did stick in my mind... and 6 years later, I'm actually doing something about it. But I never saw him again. Some doctors have the bedside manner of a flea-bitten rat... I don't give a damn about "Principles of Medicinal Ethics", some people are just simply assholes and you vote for their care with your feet (by never returning to see him again!)
But making this HUGE scene about it is kinda ridiculous... Sure he wasn't particularly nice... but she's not paying him to pat her on the back and say "There, there dear... don't worry".... He's telling her the bleeding obvious truth and we don't know that she hasn't been going there for years bitching, but not doing anything about it.
There are so many unknowns in this scenario...
Re: Though you may disagree....
Re: Though you may disagree....
Re: Though you may disagree....