Re: Gen: Fat Suits and Medicine
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Fri Mar 18 19:45:29 2005
This guy expects to get out of that auditorium in one piece?
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Fri, 18 Mar 2005, art fougner, md wrote:
>
>Obesity looms large for aspiring doctors
>By Marguerite Higgins
>THE WASHINGTON TIMES
>>From the Business section
>
>http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20050317-102021-7358r
>
>The leader of the anti-obesity lawsuit movement is threatening
>physicians-in-training with lawsuits if they don't warn obese patients
>about their excessive weight.
>George Washington University law professor John Banzhaf III, who has led
>efforts to sue fast-food chains for contributing to America's extra
>weight, is scheduled to speak tomorrow morning at the annual convention
>for the American Medical Student Association.
>Mr. Banzhaf said he will warn the aspiring doctors to be on guard for
>lawsuits that could stem from physicians failing to tell patients they
>are obese and the risks of carrying that additional weight. Patients
>also could sue for not being advised to try appropriate treatments or
>behavioral programs, he said.
>The trial lawyers group, which has spent the past few years suing the
>food industry, was "thinking of doing this some time ago, but now we
>have a federal report that provides us with a stronger base" for the
>type of case, Mr. Banzhaf said.
>That report recommended that clinicians screen all adults for obesity.
>It also suggested that doctors offer obese patients intensive counseling
>and lifestyle changes to promote sustained weight loss or refer the
>patients to other clinicians for those services.
>"This report very much spells out the standards. Obesity is a medical
>condition and proper interventions by doctors can be effective," Mr.
>Banzhaf said earlier this week.
>People with a body-mass index of 30 or higher are considered obese,
>while those with an index of 25 to 29 are considered overweight. A
>healthy body-mass index is 19 to 25.
>Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, according to
>the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
>A report released this week said that Americans' life spans could drop
>by as much as five years in the next few decades because of problems
>arising from obesity, such as strokes, hypertension and diabetes.
>
>The talk will come at the end of the association's convention in
>Arlington, where about 1,200 members of the Reston trade group have met
>for the past few days.
>Lenny Lesser, the association's obesity coordinator, said the
>association invited Mr. Banzhaf to expose medical students to policy
>issues they will face. Mr. Banzhaf, who helped lead the charge against
>tobacco companies in 1990s, likened obesity suits to the class-action
>suits against cigarette manufacturers.
>"Our job is to provide a multitude of information to our members to help
>them navigate health care policy and legal affairs," said Mr. Lesser, a
>third-year medical student.
>While Mr. Lesser said he doubted the lawsuits are the best way to
>change health care practices, he said the association has no position on
>the obesity lawsuits.
>Mr. Banzhaf said he will point to a December 2003 U.S. Preventive
>Services Task Force report as evidence the type of case could hold up in
>court.
>With an ordinary medical-malpractice lawsuit, "courts are always on the
>lookout for established standards in medical care that either come from
>medical sources or the government," Mr. Banzhaf said.
>The task force said in the report it found insufficient evidence to
>conclude if low-to-moderate counseling or behavioral intervention by a
>doctor works or does not work for obese adults. The report also did not
>make any recommendations for obese children, who are a prime group of
>plaintiffs for trial lawyers.
>The recently reinstated obesity lawsuit against McDonald's involves New
>York children. Obesity-related litigation also has targeted school
>districts selling junk food in vending machines and food manufacturers
>that advertise fatty foods to youngsters.
>Mr. Banzhaf said he also plans to advocate the role class-action
>lawsuits have had in changing America's health care system.
>"Unfortunately, one of the ways to make serious changes in society is
>through a lawsuit," he said.
>
>Ugh ...!!!!
>
>art
>
>--
>art fougner, md
>
> "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."
>Lawrence Peter Berra
>
