Honest Doc Attacked by PoliticallyCorrect State Fascists
NewsNet5.com – Irresistible – Woman Files Complaint After Doctor Tells Her She’s Obese — I though this was the “Live Free or Die!” state? What is this BS?
ROCHESTER, N.H. — The New Hampshire attorney general is investigating a Rochester doctor because a patient complained that he bluntly told her she needed to lose weight.
Dr. Terry Bennett said that he’s outraged by what he calls a baseless complaint. A patient was apparently insulted when Bennett told her that she was obese and could only get healthier by losing weight.
What are we, in China? We have to beat around the bush to tell someone something that they need to hear? Sick.
found by Imafish
Well, we know the AG is a political hack. You only run for Attorney-General if you’re planning on running for Governor or Senator, later on.
Every member of the New Hampshire Board of Medicine is an appointee. Courtesy of the Governor. And he’s married to a doctor, fer cryin’ out loud.
This si already happening in New Jersey. A doctor friend tells me that the “correct” expression they may use is: “There is a slight chance you might be a little overweight.” She must tell this to 400 lb women – and no, they’re not over 6 feet tall…
She needs to stop complaining and just face the facts. He did nothing wrong. She just thinks that she’s the greatest thing in the world. Too much self-esteem….
If a doctor has to walk on eggshells about our health, we’re in serious legal hell.
I wonder where we’ll draw the line here? A teacher can’t call a student an idiot, though their probably in a day-in-day-out position to judge, is this the same area? I’ve met some idiot teachers, though…
I agree wholeheartedly with the above posters (up to and including Brady J). I have absolutely no idea what this has to do with China however. Sadly, the USA is the only country where this is likely to – and does – happen.
Deleting the punctuation in parentheses – to my mind – makes a more appropriate comment:
“What are we[,] in America? We have to beat around the bush to tell someone something that they need to hear[?]“
I don’t like our AG in NH. She is rotten. She threatened my friend for manicuring without a license.
We need to ignore these busybodies.
This problem works itself out in time, I have never met a cow over 65. With longer lifespans, and better medicine those unable to accept personal responsibility will reduce Social Security costs. Of course we need to stop medicare/medicaid from treating people who refuse to lose weight. Since I turn 65 in 2035 I hope people who are obese are allowed to think it is okay. That way there will be plenty of money remaining in the system no matter how badly the Republicans and Democrats collectively mismanage it. Don’t think I am some beanpole who is being mean, I am easily 30lbs over a good weight for my 6’4 frame, so I understand it is not easy, but hard is not the same as impossible. Remaining fat is like remaining ignorant, it is your fault.
“Morbidly Obese” is listed as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is defined as 100 pounds over normal weight.
I’m guessing that Land Whale is completely out of line.
The woman needs to go to INSENSITIVITY training and the doctor needs to change his plate to read “Dr. Terry Bennett, M.D. (a.k.a. – Dr. Blunt – If you can’t take the truth, don’t bother to come in)”.
Re: Eric — The poor NJ doctors better not use the term “slight chance” when the person falls over dead in a week the family will come back and sue for not being truthful enough.
I’d like to bring up a point made in the movie, Supersize Me:
Why is it that you can laugh at smokers and tell them, “You know those things’ll kill ya!” and it’s just accepted but so un-PC to say the same thing to an obese person?
Smoking = lung cancer
Obesity + No excersize = death (by some means)
Can you call the AG a “Fat Head”?
Isn’t this what we can expect more of, with the US eductation system pushing “self esteem”.
But it does remind me of a co-worker in the Navy, 15-years ago, who was on the “fat boy” program (so as I – which is why I got to hear this story).
CW had gone to the required interview with a Nutritionist, and explained how he had been dieting and exercising – but that his genes were keeping him from meeting the Navy’s weight standards, because his parents and siblings were also over-weight. His family just had a slower metabolism than slender people.
CW was furious when the Nutritionist stated “if that were true” (the amount of dieting and excersing he claimed) then CW should have lost more weight – because the claimed amount of low calories consumed and high calories expended made it physically impossible to not lose some weight.
CW – furious. “Are you calling me a Liar?!”
Nutritionist – taken aback. “No; I think you’re under-estimating the amount of calories you consume, and over-estimating the amount of calories you burn”
CW (back at office) “He called me a liar! Right to my face, he called me a LIAR!”
CW considered filing a complaint against the nutritionist, but thought better of it when he calmed down.
Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt!
“CW – furious. “Are you calling me a Liar?!””
Ok – I’ll go ahead and call him a liar.
Hmmm….. so, let me get this straight… you can’t say “hey lard-ass, who’s been shoving the potatoes down your throat”. That’s NOT politically correct? Says who?
The state motto should be changed to “Live fat and die”!
Seems to me that we are rapidly developing into a nation without a spine…to hold up our ample belly.
Darryl, smoking does not equal lung cancer. The odds of getting a disease as a smoker is about 10%, which is not the same as equal.
I am following the Terry Bennett “obesity” case as an addiction medicine doctor. Studies have repeatedly shown that a doctor telling a person with an addiction the bare facts, including and sometimes especially including the “vanity” issues can be life threatening. However I watched a most disheartening interfview on USA today in which Dr. Bennett came across as a sadly beleagured “victim” while being further attacked by a somewhat immature and inexperienced interview who clearly did not know about life and death and seemed relatively unconcerned about the “facts”. The moment one newspaper newsman is successfully “silenced” by the investigators, newsmen and industry cowardly leave that topic. Yet they somehow don’t understand that all doctors will now be fearful of “hurting the feelings” of angry belligerent obese patients. Many obese people suffering food addiction and using food to address emotional deficits are quite simply very angry bitter people looking for someone to vent their frustration. Alcoholics and heroin addicts are the first to “kill the messenger” but these “illnesses” have been finally identified as such. The same tactics which work with smokers are now being used to address obesity. Addressing vanity was repeatedly found to be the most effective way to get attention with smokers. This same tactic is being used now with obesity but unfortunately for Dr. Bennett whose genius is far above and beyond the “policemen” colleagues at the local college. Beaurocratic doctors repeatedly have been demonstrated to lack that empathic quality that makes clinicians like Dr. Bennett “care” and work as hard as they do. Saying nothing about the drinking, drugging, obesity, smoking and providing new livers, respiratory surgery, heart surgery, and diabetes treatment and inhalers is what makes the doctor rich. These are the politically correct “band aid” doctors of the last 20 years and they leave clinical practice early because they don’t want to be arround for the consequences of their lucrative “feelgood” approaches. Then these same rich individuals move into the growing business of policing other doctors and expecting them to function in the uncaring politically correct manner that beaurocrats do. An angry patient can whip a good doctor and for the benefit of the lawyers all doctors begin to be beaurocrats and practice purely defensive medicine. This is fine for lawyers but the vast majority of patients want honesty in a doctor. It’s been shown repeatedly in surveys that doctors are rated highest for their “truthfulness”. With the new trend in these cancerous licensing officials doctors are asked to talk and act like lawyers and beaurocrats. I remember personally when I was a student and having repeated eye infections. I saw several doctors and paid for very expensive eye antibiotics and spent weeks of suffering. One day an honest doctor asked me “do you pick your nose while you study”. REmember no lawyer or beaurocrat would ask this question and the politically correct would be outraged. If I’d known the cue I would have started a tape recorded so I could have complained to the college and got out years of pent up aggression against authority that day. He actually went on to say “I think you’re picking your nose and rubbing your eyes in snot.” After that I stopped picking my nose and rubbing my eyes in snot and have never had an eye infection since. That’s the kind of doctor that doesn’t make money for the college beaurocrats and doesn’t make money for the medical industry. I suspect he’s in “communication seminars” being punished for his caring. I’m not blind. I quit smoking because a doctor kindly pointed out that it would make my skin look old. Vanity. Now ironically as the legal profession is destroying medicine through these beaurocratic investigations it’s become a new standard and acceptable ploy of judges to use “shame techniques” to alter the behaviours of “addicts” who have criminal offences such as drinking and driving. Right now in one province in Canada women can’t get timely pelvic exams and cervical cancer is returning. The reason. A doctor was publicly humiliated and witchhunted for doing a normal and appropriate pelvic exam. The beaurocrats in a celebrated case made themselves look like they were protecting women from that vague and mccarthyian terms “sexual abuse”. The woman claimed she “felt uncomfortable in a sexual way’ when the female doctor did a pelvic and thought she was making lesbian advances. The consequence is no male or female doctor can do a pelvic even with a same gender nurse present without knowing wheether or not this will cause them to be investigated. So the lowest common denominator of the medical class simply in good business like media folk, college licensing boards, lawyers and beaurocrats stops doing them. Some states don’t have a variety of specialists. They vote with their feet. I wouldn’t recommend any addiction medicine doctor practice in New Hampshire. However in the past we found out a person doesn’t have a drinking problem “unless they drink more than their doctor”. I would expect that someone at the licensing board ot New Hampshire needs to get on the scales. My estimate is that Dr. Bennett has by now lost at least $25,000. A single patient complaint costs the clinician this. Interestingly many lawyers are paid to defend themselves in these complaints but doctors often find themselves paying for the time involved in the defence and really being disheartened by how much these sorts of “beaurocratic” “make work” projects take away from the patients in their practice who need their services. Increasingly doctors are being penalized not for negligence or impropriety but simply for doing their work. Further, there is no level playing field in this matter since we don’t see other care givers getting the same kind of expectations being placed against them because of the “deep pocket” rule. The best nurses I’ve worked with are quick to make desparaging remarks to get patients post surgery out of their beds. These licensing boards are increasingly like those people who objected to the soldiers “swearing” when they were shot and the memo that went out to the marines saying they should watch their language when they’re being shot and wounded. I look forward to the inevitable future where such memo writers will be arrested and locked up for their peculiar perversion which is increasinly recognised and is a characterological cancer in our midst.
William, forget blogging, you need to write your own book. : )
I don’t understand how this doctor can be held responsible for his opinions when choosing a doctor is a voluntary process. Just give the whiny fat cow her copay back and be done with it.
PC doctor to patient: “You’re extremely unskinny and need to eat a lot more of nothing to be more healthy.” How unoffensive is that?
ac…you quote some odd statistics…10% of smokers will get lung cancer. Hmmm…my parents were both heavy smokers, all their friends were smokers…..out of 30 people I know of…..30 of them are DEAD now from lung cancer (including my parents). From MY experience…seems to be a 1-to-1 correlation. They didn’t die of anything else…but a very, very UGLY disease. Although, TECHNICALLY some of them died from pneumonia (something listed…but this was after their bodies were riddled with cancer that began int he lung) and some died of BRAIN TUMORS, but these were secondary, traveling bits of cancer that began in their lungs.
I have no doubt that my father (dead at 69) and my mother (dead at 79) would both have lived longer….if they hadn’t insisted on their pack a day habits.
I don’t see how you can toss around such a questionable statistic. Stop smoking AC….. your kids will thank you someday.
I;ve seen the 10% number published in several places. Perhaps it’s an urban legend, but you’re the one smoking if you think the number is 100%.
There’s so much more to this story than simply a doctor telling a patient that she’s fat. The doctor told her that her weight would make her unattractive to men. That’s what the complaint is about–the inappropriate comment about her love life, not the comment about her weight.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/25/ltm.06.html (scroll down halfway)