Rio's obese treated like horses

Mad Scientest · � #1 � 04-08-2007, 11:09 AM

(From the Drudge Report)
If you eat like a horse do you have the right to be offended when you are treated like one?

Quote:

Rio's obese treated like horses

Rio de Janeiro hospitals have been sending obese people to share medical test equipment with horses at the local race track, drawing complaints from activists who say the practice is humiliating.

"When people weigh more than the standard equipment can support they have to be directed to the Jockey Club, which is the only place in Rio where they have the appropriate equipment," a spokeswoman for the Rio state health secretariat said on Wednesday.

Patients needing stomach reduction surgery require a tomography, or multiple X-raying of body sections, which is normally carried out inside a chamber.
Rio hospitals only have standard tomography equipment for people weighing up to 120-130 kg. Tomographs used on horses are sturdier and more spacious than common devices.
Rosimere Lima da Silva, head of the Group for Salvaging Self-Esteem and Citizenship of the Obese (Graco), said many patients feel embarrassed to go there.
"The obese patients already suffer from a lot of prejudice and having to be treated where animals are is not helping their self-esteem. Many simply refuse to go," she said.

Graco staged a small protest on Tuesday outside the state legislative assembly and met some legislators to try to oblige hospitals to buy stronger equipment, including stretchers and wheelchairs for the obese, and to authorize more hospitals to perform stomach stapling surgeries.
Reuters

morgan33 · � #2 � 04-11-2007, 06:07 PM

Since when does stomach stapling help? (Apart from raising money for hospitals)

Every single person I know who has undergone this op has ended up very close to their original pre-op weight within 3 years. They simply learn to eat and drink small amounts constantly instead of larger helpings.

I already strongly resent being penalised for carrying excess baggage on planes and being charged for a measly 5 extra kgs, when someone weighing 80 kgs more than me pays the same fare and air companies have to increase the size of seats (thereby making fares dearer for everyone) just to accommodate their fat behinds!

Obese people need to stop expecting special treatment from everyone - they have to take responsibility for their own actions, and if that means being weighed on horse scales, so be it. It's environmentally unsustainable to throw out perfectly good equipment because it does not suit the morbidly obese.

Iggy Dalrymple · � #3 � 04-11-2007, 10:50 PM

Watch it, Morgan. They might start charging extra for smart asses.

EarlyBird · � #4 � 04-12-2007, 03:51 AM

Tho it might be embarassing to be weighed on horse
scales, as long as it gets the job done, who cares?

I have to agree, this operation os not for anyone who
doesn't truly intend to control their eating habits.

morgan33 · � #5 � 04-13-2007, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggy Dalrymple

Watch it, Morgan. They might start charging extra for smart asses.

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