Massachusetts primary care doctor adopted a new screening process for new patients this past spring: She no longer takes women who weigh more than 200 pounds, Boston's WCVB reports.

A woman named Ida Davidson learned of this policy when she was seeking an appointment with Dr. Helen M. Carter and was rejected as a result of her weight.

"I've never heard anything like that. I thought doctors were there to help you," Davidson told WCVB in an interview, which has since been aired on CNN and other news outlets.

Carter defended the move, though, noting that there are other facilities in the area better suited to deal with overweight patients. Davidson, however, says she believes there are other reasons behind the doctor's policy at play.

"She didnt care about my health that day. I think she just cared that I was a liability to her maybe and too much work," she told the station.

Carter is within her rights to chose who she treats, but Jezebel's Dodai Stewart questioned whether such policies are ethical and whether they could cause harm to the patient in the long run.




"Isn't there psychological and emotional harm done when a doctor — someone you're attempting to have an intimate, deeply personal relationship with — refuses to examine you because your body isn't thin enough? What if a patient is turned away and is so humiliated embarrassed she avoids seeking medical attention?" she wrote.

At the same time, there is precedent for doctors using weight as a reason not to take on certain patients.

Last year, several OB-GYNs in Florida made headlines for the same reason as Carter: They tried to avoid seeing overweight patients.

"People don't realize the risk we're taking by taking care of these patients," Dr. Albert Triana, a Florida physician told the Sun Sentinel at the time. "There's more risk of something going wrong and more risk of getting sued. Everything is more complicated with an obese patient in GYN surgeries and in [pregnancies]."

Weight isn't the only factor some doctors cite for how they select their patients.

In February, the Wall Street Journal reported on an increase in the number of pediatricians who had stopped taking patients whose parents refused to vaccinate them. And another study found that nearly a third of doctors will not take new patients on Medicaid.

Personally, I don't think it is a big deal. If was was over 200 lbs, I would not want to see a doctor who did not see me as someone in need of changing a dire situation. If a doctor doesn't want to see my, I don't want her to!

Nystyle709 wrote:

It's unethical and THAT is the dumbest thing I've heard all day. What...as a doctor, everything about your job is supposed to be "risk-free" and easy? You're supposed to take care of sick patients. Period.

Bingo. You don't go to medical school to learn to cater only to the perfect patients who are built in a one size fits all mold.

Maybe it would be incentive for the obese patient to get on a weight reduction program and improve their health. This doctor could give such referral.

I can understand not wanting to take on the extra liability of an at-risk patient but somehow the obesity should also be a part of the treatment plan. IDK if a doctor can dismiss a patient for non-compliance with their treatment plan once they take them on.

As I get older I wonder if this could be applied to me. Doctor not wanting to take patients over 60 because they are at greater risk.

Nystyle709 wrote:

It's unethical and THAT is the dumbest thing I've heard all day. What...as a doctor, everything about your job is supposed to be "risk-free" and easy? You're supposed to take care of sick patients. Period.

Per the AMA, a doctor can choose who he treats. Refusing obese patients will never be considered unethical in a court of law.

Weight and race discrimination are no where near the same thing.

In general, it isn't....but in THIS case, I believe it is. If you can take a 200 lb patient (because that's your "limit") but refuse to see one that is 202 lbs, something is wrong there. Totally.

Nystyle709 wrote:

In general, it isn't....but in THIS case, I believe it is. If you can take a 200 lb patient (because that's your "limit") but refuse to see one that is 202 lbs, something is wrong there. Totally.

And THEN you figure in the people who are over 200 pounds but are not obese because very rarely IS just being over 200 pounds obese, until a couple months ago I was over 200 pounds, and I was never even fat, just overweight. When do the doctors determine 200+ whether by fat or muscle or both is too much? What about the ones that wear their weight well so don't look like what the scale reads? How can you determine all of that in the medical profession when you're choosing who to dismiss because you can't be bothered with them because they don't weigh what you want them to?

That is just plain wrong.