August 24, 2005
RATHER DEAD THAN OFFENDED (via Bob Tremblay):
Frank doctor in trouble with authorities over advice (AP, 8/24/05)
As doctors warn more patients that they should lose weight, the advice has backfired on one doctor with a woman filing a complaint with the state saying he was hurtful, not helpful.Dr. Terry Bennett says he tells obese patients their weight is bad for their health and their love lives, but the lecture drove one patient to complain to the state.
"I told a fat woman she was obese," Bennett says. "I tried to get her attention. I told her, 'You need to get on a program, join a group of like-minded people and peel off the weight that is going to kill you.' "
He says he wrote a letter of apology to the woman when he found out she was offended.
If she really minded being told she was fat she'd lose some weight. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 24, 2005 6:39 AM
Obese people, like smokers, alcoholics, and drug addicts, already know that their addiction is bad for them.
They just have less societal pressure to change their behavior than the other groups do.
We should run "This is your pancreas on dessert" PSAs.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at August 24, 2005 4:01 PM