Is This Fair? Massachusetts Woman Denied Medical Treatment Because Of Her Weight

August 27th, 2012 - By Victoria Uwumarogie

Source: ABC News

When Ida Davidson of Shrewsbury, Mass. went to see primary care physician Dr. Helen Carter, of the UMass Memorial Medical Center, I’m sure that like most people, she thought she could get help from the doctor to help diagnose a health concern or just talk about health issues. However, she received the shock of her life when Dr. Carter refused to treat her because of the fact that she’s clinically obese. At 5’7 and 247 pounds, Davidson admitted that she was a bit overweight, but never imagined that she would be turned away by a doctor because of it. As she told Massachusetts news station WCBV-TV:

“I can’t believe and I did say that out loud, ‘I can’t believe you guys just said that to me.’  I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life…She’s like, ‘You gained weight, are your feet swollen, are your feet swollen?’ I said ‘No.’ She was really obsessed about the whole thing and me being in her office and she didn’t want to care for me.”

And Dr. Carter doesn’t deny Davidson’s claims. In fact, she stands by her refusal, pointing out that after a few of the employees were injured in the health center caring for heavier patients, they’ve decided to put restrictions in place when it comes to the weight of those they care for. “After three consecutive injuries (with other patients) trying to care for people over 250 pounds, my office is unable to accommodate a certain weight and we put a limit on it.” However, according to the New York Daily News, Dr. Carter also wanted people to know that while she may have denied treatment to the woman, the UMass Memorial Medical Center also has an obesity center with more resources and capabilities to provide health checks and diagnose the health issues of patients who are overweight.

If you are one of many people who felt this doctor was in the wrong and basically pooped all over the concept of the hippocratic oath, you should know that being selective in the patients doctors decide to take on is not illegal in the eyes of the American Medical Association. As pointed out through the Ethics and Judicial Affairs policy via WCBV-TV:
“Both patients and physicians should be able to exercise freedom in whom to enter into a patient-physician relationship … physicians do not give up their freedom of association by merely becoming professionals.”
However, The New York Daily News also spoke to medical ethicist Arthur Caplan, and he wasn’t a fan of the concept of turning obese patients away, even if the AMA sees nothing wrong with it. “I think you have a duty to try and work with people no matter what their health issues are. Simply saying, ‘I’m not gonna take someone who’s obese,’ is, I think, not the way to approach the whole challenge of obesity, either for that person or for any American.”
I’m sorry, but when I look at Ms. Davidson, unless she was going to do a high dive off a counter in the clinic and needed to be caught by doctors at the UMass Memorial Medical Center, I don’t see why her weight was more important than helping her with whatever issues she has. I’m all for people helping people understand the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, but this is just a tad bit bogus in my book. Make that very bogus. But then again, I’m not a practicing physician like Dr. Carter, and the AMA finds it to be an ethical practice, so who am I to throw shade? But still…I’m pulling the bogus card.
What do you think? Was Dr. Carter wrong for denying Ida Davidson the treatment she was hoping for?

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  • http://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.bernard.790 Jeffrey Bernard

    Get used to it. For most people obesity is a self inflicted condition. Why should a doctor risk the health of their staff over a patient that has no interest in doing what is medically best for herself? The patient seems in denial about the seriousness of her weight problem to begin with. The doctor would be wasting her time dealing with a woman that doesn’t believe she has a weight problem in the first place.

  • DarkChild

    I’ve seen much bigger people at the clinic, believe me she is small compared to them. I can understand not wanting her employees to get injured, but how is she supposed to get medical care if she can’t go to the doctor. Plus if a doctor can refuse to see a patient because of their weight, can this same doctor refuse to see a patient if there are of a certain race, ethnic, or religious group. If that is the case then no one will be able to get medical care. I would not want to see a doctor like this because I would worry that I was not getting the best medical care and would seriously think that the doctor’s diagnosis could not be based on medicine but on personal opinions about me. Yes, the doctor is wrong especially if she is paying for a service she can’t use.

  • Me

    “Davidson admitted that she was a bit overweight”

    A bit?!?

    She is almost twice the weight she should be for an ideal BMI.

  • Kenedy

    KenedyAn overweight patient almost got my mom fired (she’s a nurse) because she had asked my mom to lift her & my mom told that she would have to wait for someone to assist her because she couldn’t do it on her own…..so i understand the liability to her employees part

  • Stacy L

    I somewhat can understand a doctor’s reasoning for not seeing an overweight/obese patient, but then why tell them to consult a physician before starting any kind of diet or weight loss plan. Its kind of lose/lose. You tell them to lose weight and to consult a doctor to help get started, but then refuse to see them.

  • Treacle234

    It is not unfair, this should be her motivation to reduce her body fat percentage. Too much body fat ans anesthesia does not mix well.

    • Candacey Doris

      But in order to start a safe program to lose weight, she needs a doctor’s input. What’s that you say, the doctor won’t see her? Guess she’ll try on her own and fail again like she probably has in the past.

      • Me

        No, in order to start a safe program to lose weight she needs to stop eating too much.

        • Candacey Doris

          Yes, just that simple. You need to start reading some things about weight loss. When you get to her size, you body needs help. Appetite suppressants (the best of which are prescription), a proper meal plan (which an be better made by a doctor than Weight Watchers) an support are necessary. Just stop eating are words that people with no real knowledge say. Sit down.

          • Me

            I didn’t write “just stop eating”. I wrote stop eating too much. Unless the laws of physics, chemistry and biology have changed, even while sitting down and without reading anything, I still know that:

            eating too much = overweight

          • that girl

            You know, by reducing my meal portions, still doing the same level of activity (which is almost nothing except cleaning the house) and not drinking soda or eating candy bars, I’ve dropped ten pounds in two months. I still feel full and I think I still might be eating larger portions than I should (unless my cookbook was misprinted, then I am eating more than I should) but by changing two aspects of my life: candy/sugar and portion, I’m already losing weight. and I’m not obese. I’m only 124 pounds at 5’2″ and I just want to lose another ten to get back to my freshman college weight. I’m sure with correct portioning you’d see more dramatic results on a heavier person. Plus, my mom started correct portions with no junk food and lost 60 pounds. she walks for 30 minutes three times a week was all she increased her activity by and she’s bank teller. And she was legitimately overweight. Not obese (or I at least don’t think she was). So, yes, part of it is that simple.

            • Candacey Doris

              Correct portioning is great. But as you said, only part of it is exercise and portioning. Your mother and yourself were, thank god, not as badly off as this woman. But that can be enough for people that are not her size.

  • moemiel

    being in the healthcare field i can almost understand. Obese people are not just obese, they come with a lot of other comorbidities that make treating them difficult. and these are all worsened by their weight. I still hv teh right to refuse care to people whom I dont feel able to provide safe and competent care.

  • http://www.facebook.com/nikia.dshiznit Nikia D-Shiznit

    She’s overweight, which makes her even more of a liability and risk. Are doctors wrong when they tell obese patients to lose weight before they can get weight loss surgery? Obese people, just like drinkers and smokers, drive up health costs. There’s a price to pay when you let yourself go like that. She let herself get obese, but gets mad at a doctor for not tending to her health? Responsibility is a foreign concept. Doctors can practice discretion.

  • Trina

    I’m, sadly and unfortunately, not surprised. I live in Maryland, and once I graduated was dropped from my parent’s insurance. When I tried to get insurance on my own I was denied by AT LEAST 3 companies b/c of my weight. (I was 5’6 and weighed abt 260 at the time). It wasn’t until I got my full time job (with benefits) that I was insured again, almost 18 months after being dropped. And I’ve heard of doctors refusing to see patients b/c of weight all the time. It really concerns me b/c we are the ones who need to be checked on a regular basis, but we get denied and turned away, smh. Hopefully something will change, and soon.

  • Candacey Doris

    Unless she was looking to have them lift her then her weight shouldn’t have mattered. And i know for a fact that standard beds can accommodation patients up to 300 pounds. And they had trouble with patients over 250, isn’t she 247 lbs? What kin of doctor was this?

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