An interesting article...do you think you wil have a bias towards obese pts?

[MedBoundForSure]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/21/obesity.discrimination/index.html

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[bannie22]

Not a bias that makes me discriminate them tho.

 

[MilkmanAl]

What a terrible article. I'm pretty used to journalists botching medical issues, but that was atrocious. If not being able to feel a tumor in a 280-pound woman means I'm biased against obese people, then yes, I will be biased. Sensationalist garbage.

 

[elektroshok]

Does anyone have any numbers regarding the obese population and what percent are obese due to (in part or whole) by a medical condition? I would venture to say this number is a lot smaller than those whose obesity is contributing to their medical conditions.

 

[JJMrK]

There aren't statistics on how many diagnostic errors are due to weight, but the data for the general population is disturbing enough. "Doctors make mistakes in diagnosing 10 to 15 percent of all patients, and in half of those cases it causes real harm," Groopman says. Based on anecdotal evidence -- patients who've told her that their doctors are often too quick to blame symptoms on weight -- Rebecca Puhl, Ph.D., director of Research and Weight Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, suspects that being heavy could further increase the odds of being misdiagnosed.

There are no studies on how often doctors refuse to treat patients because of their weight. But Sondra Solovay, an Oakland, California, attorney and author of Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight-Based Discrimination, says she hears enough anecdotes to believe it's commonplace.

Impeccable research.

 

[guyski79]

Impeccable research.

Indeed, very rigorous. Thanks, CNN.

 

[vin5cent0]

Some of that crap didn't support their argument at all.

"• May have a harder time getting health insurance or have to pay higher premiums"

That's not discrimination because the insurance companies dislike fat people, it's just business. Overweight people tend to have more health problem. Simple as that. It shouldn't be any other way.

"• Are less likely to have cancer detected early and get effective treatment for it"

Kind of hard to find cancer in its early forms via manual palpations if you have 5 inches of fat covering it, isn't it?

I will say this, though, that I'd be more inclined to help someone who takes care of them self than someone who lets themself go and then just comes to the dr to make everything better.

 

[Hoody]

Most of the Patients I deal with are obese. Its no different than working with an alcoholic and/or drug user (which are also a great deal of my patients. sometimes I'm even lucky enough to get that triple combo, ya know, fat, drunk, and high). The best doctors are the ones who are able to let go of their biases. This is why I think pre med clinical experience is so important. If you have difficulty communicating with people or have difficulty dealing with certain subjects, its best to learn how to cope/deal early.


My only concern with obese Patients is being able to perform adequate CPR. I don't weigh much over a buck. and some of my coworkers dont either. eek.