An editorial on Dr. Bennett: I couldn’t have said it better myself

Reprinted from the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Doctor’s orders: Don’t replace them with lawyer’s orders

ROCHESTER DOCTOR Terry Bennett told an obese patient she was fat and should lose weight, and for that the state board of medicine is trying to discipline him. Sounds like board members need to see a doctor themselves “” to have their heads examined.

Dr. Bennett said his patient was merely overweight when he first told her to drop some pounds. Because she didn’t listen to him, she eventually became obese and developed diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux and chest pains, he said. Then he really got stern with her.

“I told a fat woman she was obese,” he said. “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.”

Rather than thank the doctor for trying to save her life, the patient filed a complaint with the New Hampshire Board of Medicine. That in itself was absurd. But the real lunacy came when the board objected to a subcommittee’s recommendation simply to send the doctor a letter of concern and instead asked the Attorney General’s office to investigate.

Imagine. With all the real crime the Attorney General’s office has to handle, the board of medicine thought it would be a good use of a state attorney’s time to investigate whether a doctor was too harsh when he told a patient her obesity would kill her.

If the board succeeds in disciplining Dr. Bennett, then every physician in the state will think twice before giving unhealthy patients the advice they need. Some might even feel the need to run their advice by an attorney before giving it. Such a chilling effect would endanger people’s lives, and it cannot be allowed to happen. Doctors must be able to speak freely to their patients, even if it means hurting their feelings.

The board of medicine consists of eight members appointed by the governor to five-year terms. At the first opportunity, Gov. John Lynch should replace any member who voted to have Dr. Bennett investigated by the Attorney General’s office and officially wrist-slapped by the board. Anyone who thinks that sternly warning a patient to lose weight is a no-no for a doctor does not belong in a position of authority over the state’s physicians.

Comments

Anonymous
It would be interesting to find out the average BMI of the board members voting to discipline Dr. Bennett. As usual, this jury probably let emotion get in the way of common sense.
When I was a kid a doctor told my mom that if she didn’t stop smoking and didn’t lose weight, she would die before her kids graduated from high school. She never smoked another cigarette, and she’s lost alot of weight.
DrTony
I can’t even agree with sending him a letter of concern. What they should have done was send the patient a letter stating that they were sorry that she felt her doctor was rude, but that isn’t an issue for the medical board.
Curious JD
“As usual, this jury probably let emotion get in the way of common sense.”
You’re right. Further illustrating why a jury of “experts” wouldn’t work. It turns out they aren’t any smarter than the rest of us.
Samson Isberg
Seems that the Medical Board in question are concerned with politics rather than medicine; in which case they don’t qualify as “experts” in my book. They are more concerned with appeasing the “customer” than doing their duty according to the Hippocratic oath. I fully agree with the suggestion of firing them; but in my humble opinion they also ought to be sent back to Medical school to do the training all over again.
Mountain
So which board members voted to send this to the Attorney General? The members are
Bruce J. Friedman, M.D., President
Kevin A. Costin, PA-C, Vice President
James H. Clifford, M.D.
Judith E. Dickinson, Public Member Cynthia S. Cooper, M.D.
Paul J. Scibetta, Jr., D.O.
William Kassler, M.D., Medical Director
Mary S. Nelson, Public Member
James G. Sise, M.D.
This information was taken from the NH board of medicine website.
http://www.nh.gov/medicine/consumer.html
I am certain the board will claim confidentiality prevents them from stating which members voted to send this to the AG. Still, maybe a petition to release this information can put public pressure on them.
Curious JD
“Seems that the Medical Board in question are concerned with politics rather than medicine; in which case they don’t qualify as “experts” in my book. “
Ahh, I forgot. One is an expert if they agree with me.
My mistake.
Anonymous
Ahh, I forgot. One is an expert if they agree with me.
Spoken like a true ambulance chaser – LOL!!!
Curious JD
Unsurprisingly, you missed the point of the post. “Me” was referring to those who disagreed with the referring physicians.
I’ll type slower.
Anonymous
This article makes the same claim that is still wrong – that all he did was tell her she was fat and that she needed to lose weight.
In fact, he, by his own admission, has a standard boilerplate lecture/harange which he reserves for fat WOMEN, and among other remarks says he always tells them being fat makes them “undesireable to men”.
He announced to this specific woman that her husband who was also obese would probably predecease her and that, statistically speaking, she would not be able to find a replacement because of her fat and that men would find her undesirable.
And there is more, but since everyong twisted the actual story, and decided she was mad “because he told her the truth” I guess it doesn’t matter if he falls beneath any standard that requires patients to be treated respectfully anyway.
Personally, I think his method of gaining converts to a healthy lifestyle is counterproductive on every level, and unprofessional and innappriate.
Anonymous
I think the thought process of the board was absolutely shocking. No doctor should endure a such a system:
“Physicians have to be professional with patients and remember everyone is an individual. You should not be inflammatory or degrading to anyone,” said Kevin Costin, a board member.
Just apalling.
Anonymous
Unsurprisingly, you missed the point of the post. “Me” was referring to those who disagreed with the referring physicians.
Hey Genius, I understood perfectly. I was referring to YOU, who thinks that the oft-sleazy plaintiff’s experts in medmal cases are above reproach and that docs only have a problem with them because they testify against them, not because they are usually sleazeballs who are paid huge sums to say whatever the ambulance chaser wants them to say.
Anonymous
having seen Dr. Bennett’s arrogant demeanor on several news reports, I can only imagine how he approach his patient. It is totally unprofessional for a doctor to express “concern” by stating that her husband will die soon and she needs to lose weight so she can be sexually attractive enough to get another man. If he had any concern about her health he would refer her to an eating disorders specialist rather to a “fad diet” chain such as Jenny Craig. During his media blitz the doctor stated that the Medical Board requested he attend a workshop. He never fully describes the workshop. Could it be an Eating Disorders Awareness trainging? It is apparent that he can not see beyond how this has damaged him. I wonder if he has given any real thought as to the damage he may have caused by his callous attitude toward his female patients. I doubt it. For now I bet his ego his being well feed by his 15 minutes of “victimhood” Remember your oath doctor, FIRST DO NO HARM.
Anonymous
“If he had any concern about her health he would refer her to an eating disorders specialist rather to a “fad diet” chain such as Jenny Craig.”
Eating disorder’s specialist!! It’s NEW HAMPSHIRE. They have lots of horses and cows, not lots of Doctors. Where do you live, Manhattan? He’s lucky if he can advise her to find low-fat meals in the local Stop & Shop. But, lucky for his “patient victims”, he’ll quit and move, thus adding to the shortage of phyicians in New Hampshire. Another nail in the coffin of family medicine.
Anonymous
“First do no harm” has nothing to do with regulating conversation. As a pediatrician, I often think “you can’t arrest someone for being a bad parent, as long as there’s no abuse or neglect. Should you be able to punish doctor for a bad bedside manner? Perhaps the foreign grads who work in our small towns have an advantage on these small town docs: You can’t punish them if you don’t understand a word they say.
drdarcy
While I personally probably wouldn’t find his intervention helpful, it sounds like he has a number of patients who have found it very helpful and who have achieved excellent weight loss (greater than 100lbs). So, I can see why he might keep advising people this way. This patient didn’t like how he talked to her, complained to him, and he sent her a letter of apology … now the ball is in her court to keep seeing him, or to decide his style is too abrasive and find another doc.
Even though all of our risk management advisors say we need to be nice, really nice, and that nice is more important than competent, I really think this was a no-harm, no-foul situation.
I also think that if this patient put as much proactive energy into managing her health problems as she did into responding to this guy’s style, she’d be a lot better off.
Anonymous
FYI Rochester NH is less than an hour away from Boston. NH is home of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, of of the best teaching hospitals in the USA. There are also several eating disorders specialist in the area.
It would benifit patients if the “caring doctors” were to do thier homework before confronting a patient. Have the needed referrals and resources available for the patient. This is called Case Management.
I know doctors say they are not social workers, and thier job is to heal the body not the mind or soul, however, a competent physician,(and any decent human being for that matter) is aware that we are more than the sum of our parts. A body can not be healed if the mind and soul are wounded and sacrificed in the process. The arrogance of some Physicains is causing great harm to their patients. It is time to hold them accountable
Anonymous
My initial reaction to hearing about this on the radio was that the NH Board had lost their collective minds! However, if he *did* approach it from the perspective of her sexual desirability, rather than from the need for her to lose weight for health reasons, I think he used poor judgment. Is it a criminal matter? No way! Does he need some training on communication skills? You betcha!
MHanson – Managed Care Consultant
Anonymous
So,now how do you go about telling a patient in NH they have an STD? Can you ask a patient if they are sexually active or what their sexual orrientation is ? Can you tell someone they are chemicaly dependent? I thought the state motto was Live free or die. Now,I quess,Its just “die because I can’t say anything that might offend you”.
Anonymous
“FYI Rochester NH is less than an hour away from Boston.”
Like a patient is going to drive an hour (on I93? an hour? It takes an hour from Methuen). Also, will insurance cover out of state referrals? For weight loss? And to tell a patient she needs a weight loss referral, you have to tell her she’s obese, which apparently gets you sanctioned in New Hampshire these days.
Anonymous
“So,now how do you go about telling a patient in NH they have an STD? Can you ask a patient if they are sexually active or what their sexual orrientation is ? Can you tell someone they are chemicaly dependent?”
You are comparing apples to oranges. All of the questions you mention are relavant to being able to make a diagnosis/tell a patient about a diagnosis.
Telling a patient that her husband is going to die before she does and that men will find you unatractive is neither medically necessary to making a diagnosis nor is a diagnosis a doctor is qualified to make. There are 100 other ways to tell a person her weight is making her sick; if it was tried before and she didn’t follow up on it than either she tried and failed to loose weight or she doesn’t want to – it is her right. This is free country. The doctor can give his medical(!)opinion and recommend a particular course of action, the patient has right to refuse treatment. The doctor can document patient’s refusal to avoid liability. It is not like she is a TB patient refusing treatment and running loose around Manhattan.
“your BMI puts you into the rank of obese and these are the risks associated with this condition, your weight is a cause of your symptoms; if you don’t loose weight you’ll risk early death; because of your extra weight you have such-and-such risk of early death” — these are examples of medical opinion. “it’ll be difficult for you to find a new husband” is not.
The doctor isn’t a “seer” from a fantasy book answering client’s question of whether she is going to be a widow. Even if it is likely from the statistics, the woman didn’t ask for this information, she has a right not to want to discuss the statistical probability of her becoming a widow. The doctor doesn’t run a dating service to know the current preferences for mates, and she didn’t come to him for advice on “what do I need to do to find the right man”.
Incidentally, as a slim-to-average, attractive, 40-something woman who is “still looking”, I can assure you his opinion is not necessarily correct – there are plenty of happily married obese people and there are plenty of good-looking slim people who cannot find a mate.
Do I think this is a matter for courts. Absolutely NOT. Do I think he acted unprofessionally and inappropriately and the woman deserves an apology. Yes.
Anonymous
“Telling a patient that her husband is going to die before she does and that men will find you unatractive is neither medically necessary to making a diagnosis nor is a diagnosis a doctor is qualified to make.”
So it would have been better if he had said “you won’t live to see your kids graduate from college” if you don’t lose weight, which is what a doc effectively told my mom 30 years ago? These are all subjective statements, not worthy of punishment by a medical board.
Anonymous
Do any of you know the number of complaints that actually make it through the investigation phase and then to a hearing before the Board? Not many. Most complaints never even make it to a hearing before the Board – I would be willing to bet this isn’t simply a case of a doc telling a patient she’s fat and needs to lose weight. Remember, PRACTICING PHYSICIANS sit on these boards – what do they have to gain by punishing another physician – Not much.
Anonymous
“So it would have been better if he had said “you won’t live to see your kids graduate from college”
if you don’t lose weight, which is what a doc effectively told my mom 30 years ago? “
IMHO, yes, although ‘probably’ between “you” and “won’t” would make it more of a professional opinion and less subjective. (just an opinion). IMHO, also, this type of comment is more likely to make someone change his lifestyle than unsolicited comments about looks and death of one’s husband. The latter comment is more likely to just get the person angry without any other effect. Very few women make plans based on what would happen when their husbands die, so it very unlikely this type of comment will have any positive effect beyond anger.
“These are all subjective statements, not worthy of punishment by a medical board.”
This I agree with.
I think the comment was rude an unprofessional and in bad taste, but I also think it rudeness and bad taste is not the matter for boards or Attorney General(just as I think rudeness and bad taste comments don’t constitute sexual harassment in a corporate environment although they are often taken as such).
Anonymous
A Little more info on the “good Dr.” from the WMUR web site
Facing Complaint Has Been In News Before
Doctor Treated Bin Laden’s Brother, Lost House In Fire
POSTED: 4:43 pm EDT August 26, 2005
ROCHESTER, N.H. — A doctor facing a complaint from a patient for telling her she was too fat has been in the news before after his house burned down and when he said he treated relatives of Osama bin Laden.
Dr. Terry Bennett’s controversial bedside manner attracted national attention. It’s not clear exactly what he said, but Bennett claims that he bluntly told an obese patient what will happen if she didn’t lose some weight. He included the possibility that if her equally obese husband dies first, she’ll have trouble finding a man.
“There’s polling by NPR of middle-aged men. What do you like in a woman?” Bennett said. “And obesity isn’t on the list except as a negative, only favored a little bit by black men.”
The Board of Medicine and attorney general are investigating the complaint.
Bennett has a file already. In 1995, he paid a $1,000 fine for “dishonest conduct” when the board found that he didn’t reveal he was denied privileges at Wentworth Douglass Hospital when he applied for a renewal of his license to practice.
The file doesn’t say why Bennett was barred from Wentworth. The doctor appealed, and it was denied.
In August 1993, Bennett’s home burned to the ground in a fire called suspicious by the fire marshal. Bennett’s insurance company refused to pay the $1 million claim on his house.
Last year, his legal appeals to get the money were denied. Bennett said that he was defrauded.
Bennett made news again just after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when he reveled that he had been the family doctor for Osama bin Laden’s brother. In the days after the attack, he defended the bin Laden family.
“These people deserve our sympathy,” Bennett said at the time. “They’re good, kind, law-abiding and generous.”
The patient complaint against Bennett might be made public next week.
Previous Stories:
August 25, 2005: Story Of Doctor’s Obesity Comments Spreads Far
August 22, 2005: Woman Files Complaint After Doctor Tells Her She’s Obese
Copyright 2005 by TheWMURChannel. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Anonymous
You would think by now all that was relevant to know would be out in the open. If Dr. Bennett is accused of anything other than making a patient angry by telling her she is obese and that she would have difficulty finding a new mate in that condition, no one, including the complaining patient, has said anything else. I am expecting no surprises here.
Medical boards attract doctors who want to sit on medical boards. They don’t necessarily have personal agendas, but some do. I’d like to know what the BMIs are of New Hampshire’s board members.
Anonymous
Great, now you’re slinging mud about his personal past in front of us. Hope when I’m unlucky enough to get sued nobody will bring up that night in a New York Motel room when I was 18 on a national news site.
Anonymous
Anonymous – as long as you didn’t do anything illegal in that NY Hotel Room you should be fine.
Anonymous
Did Dr. Bennett do something illegal?
Anonymous
The implication by this article is that he set his house on fire to collect the insurance money, which I believe is mud-slinging that has nothing to do with his ability to practice primary care.
Jim
In May of this year I had my come to Jesus meeting with my MD. I had been dreading the event because I knew I had let myself go. In any event I was 300 pounds with high Triglycerides and out of control blood sugars.
I was told plainly that it was a matter of when terrible things would happen, not if. The language was plain, direct and extremely effective. I have lost substantial weight since then, and exercise daily.
The frank and forceful language used by my physician, while jarring, helped me immensely.
Anonymous
This is in response to an anonymous posting POSTED: 4:43 pm EDT August 26, 2005
Which includes an excerpt from an artical about a house fire he had.
In August 1993, Bennett’s home burned to the ground in a fire called suspicious by the fire marshal. Bennett’s insurance company refused to pay the $1 million claim on his house.
Let me give my name, Justin Allison, Dr Bennett is married to my sister. so I won’t be anonymous.
I was there At The Dr Bennet’s house when it caught on fire. The fire started in the Laundry room when the dryer I was using over heated and caught on fire. I know because I was there, the only one there. I tried unsuccesfully to put the fire out using extinguishers before I went to get help.
I drove to the court house, the only public building close by where I called the fire department.
A court bailiff gave me a ride back, however, he began to feel suspicious and handed me over to a nice policeman who made me sit in his car until my sister arrived and assured them I was a relative, at which point I explained what happened to the fire marshal.
He was satisfied by my story, however, the Insurance company pressed for a further investigation. I was given a lie detector test, which I passed.
The investigators did in fact, trace the fire to a faulty circuit in the dryer, it was a GE model which was known to have defects. In fact, there had been a special fund set up by GE to pay off damages caused by this defect, a result of a class action suit, I believe. curiously, the remains of the dryer have disappeared, which may be why the fire marshal considers the whole affair suspicious. To me, since I was the one who nearly died in the fire in the first place, there is no mystery to it at all.
Finally,
I feel I should mention a few things about Dr. Bennett.
Although he had only 3 years of college education, He does have two degrees and MD and an MPH, both of which were funded by and are from Harvard Medical School, located in Cambridge MA, an hour south of Rochester. 2 years before the fire, He donated almost all of his car collection to Harvard Medical school, Specifying that the money from the sale of these some 60+ cars, engines, aircraft, odd bits of mechanical things and what not be earmarked for scholarships. Dr. Bennett was the recipient of scholarships when he attended Harvard, although He had to sell blood and cars to pay for his living expenses while in Medical School.
After Medical School and residency in California, He joined the Peace Corps and went to Tunisia where he practiced medicine. He then had a medical practice and a garage where he repaired cars. In the 1970′s, He went to work in Saudi Arabia for Raytheon, and was the only western Dr. in the region of Jeddah. He worked in the Raytheon Facility (I am not sure if it was a refinery, chemical plant or what) . He treated anyone who came to the clinic, no questions asked. Raytheon fired him, and he sued and won. He remained in Saudia Arabia where he opened his own practice, accepting what ever payment could be rendered, including none. Sometimes payment was a material object, which he would either trade for something else, sell, or keep.
It was during this time that He met the BinLadins, and had a comon interest in cars with 2 or three of the brothers.
They had acted generously towards him, and helped him considerably when he was in need. If I may digress, I feel that WMUR’s linking of the two parties is intended to smear Dr bennet by virtue of Osama binLadin’s relationship. This along with all the other attempts to denigrate this family smacks of xenophobia. Remeber, Timothy McVeigh, has a sister, and a father, Charles Manson a son. All of which are law abiding and good people, The binLaddins shouldn’t be regarded in any other way.
Dr. Bennett is a contraversial figure. He is very generous with those in need. Indeed, after the fire, I had lost most of what I owned, including my car, my clothes. He gave me a car, it wasn’t much, but it was something I could get back and forth a few times to Maine. At one point, I felt that if He or my sister wanted nothing to do with me I would feel that was perfectly fine. However, that Chistmas, He and my sister gave me badly needed clothes. nuff said on that.
As a person, Terry can sometimes comeoff sounding arrogant and belittling. I have snapped at him more than a time or two. However, usually it is when he honestly wants to help, and having a wealth of experience, knowledge and intelligence, he speaks to freely. If others would simply let him, and those of similar background speak, and listen to the message, not neccesarily the words used, they will learn something.
There is much to this case that doesn’t meet the eye, the dragging of this silly frivolous complaint out over the course of almost a year, the use of WMUR to rehash old news… Suffice it to say that If those who are bent on attacking Dr. Bennett would let this issue die, and appreciate his philanthropy, his policy of helping those regardless of ability to pay, and his unconventional lifestyle (He also has an antique store, and buys and sells used cars) They would come to the conclusion that on the balance, He is doing good and should be left alone.
Anonymous
I think it’s pathetic that this guy even has to defend his reputation (or his family does). He’s a doctor advising a patient. Even doctors who HAVE committed real malpractice (which he didn’t) don’t deserve to have personal issues smeared across a public forum. He should have just sent this patient to a Gastric Bypass surgeon, where she’d be someone elses problem.
Anonymous
Now presenting: the SPIN DOCTOR.
Suprise! Just when you thought you heard it all. It turns out that the good doc is actually under investigation not only for telling this woman that she needs to lose weight to be attractive to men after her obese husband dies (and we KNOW a woman needs a man to be complete), but also because he advised her that only the WRONG men are attracted to obese women – BLACK MEN! Yes folks, this doc pulled a fast one on the media. He knew he was in big trouble for being investigated for racist comments, and decided to take pre-emptive action, and spin the story in his favor, to look like the poor innocent country doc who “just tells it like it is”. Persecuted for being honest! Brilliant! Looks like the spin is working pretty well.
Anonymous
I’ll just bet the board members were chomping on their tongues, dying to tell their side of the story! Apparently there will be a public hearing in Dec – but the info about the racist nature of the comments “sneaked out” today, finally. The doc actually initiated the media coverage himself, creating the story hoping to get public opinion on his side before the full story came out…
Anonymous
I’m not defending anything, but the same people who claim that a jury can make good decisions about what a doctor thought and did, are now also able to read his mind. Why do we need a jury at all?
Anonymous
Related Articles and Media
Article: State investigates doctor accused of racial remark to obese woman
ROCHESTER —The Board of Medicine is not investigating Dr. Terry Bennett solely because he told a female patient that she was obese and faced a dismal life if she didn’t change, but because of an alleged racial comment the woman said he made to her during the visit, according to documents released Tuesday.
The woman — dubbed “Patient A” by the state and referred to as Helena (Susan) P. in documents Bennett previously provided to Foster’s — alleges that on June 28, 2004, Bennett told her: “You need to lose weight. Let’s fact it if your husband were to die tomorrow who would want you. Well, men might want you but not the types that you want to want you. Might even be a black guy.”
Senior Assistant Attorney General Richard Head confirmed the complaint “very specifically is not about a patient who is only concerned about being told she is obese. … Whether or not Dr. Bennett agrees that that was what was said, that was the complaint that was sent to the board and that was what triggered the request for the investigation.”
In making public that a hearing will be held Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m. in Concord, the state also disclosed the contents of an earlier complaint against Bennett in 2001 which he has said was found to be “without merit” and made by a “demented” patient.
The documents paraphrased what Bennett, 67, allegedly told the patient, dubbed “Patient S,” who was suffering from the effects of brain surgery. “(Bennett) spoke to Patient S in an unprofessional manner suggesting that she purchase a pistol with which to commit suicide as a means of putting an end to her life,” according to the state’s documents.
This morning Bennett said he normally tells his female obese patients that in addition to them facing the prospect of dying before their husbands he also tells them he has read polls that indicate black men prefer being with overweight women. But Bennett says he never said exactly what the complaint alleges.
“That sentence was never raised from my lips,” Bennett said. “I didn’t say, ‘Honey, the only person that’s going to like you is a black guy.” He said the first time he learned that the state was investigating the racial comment was by reading it on a TV station’s website Tuesday night.
In letters Bennett sent to Attorney General Kelly Ayotte on June 17, among 67 points Bennett laid out refuting the state’s claims he said that, according to news outlets, black men are the only group of people “not completely negative about obese women.” He also writes that “facts are just facts, and are NOT inherently ‘racist.’ ”
Bennett also denied having ever told any of his patients to kill themselves. He said the state was going on fourth-degree hearsay.”
Here ya’ll go – no mind reading necessary – the good doc quite nicely condemns himself.
Anonymous
Facts ARE indeed just facts – its how you use them that is racist! In this case the doc was using the “fact” that only black men like obese women to “help” her lose weight- since the very thought of being attractive to only black men should spur her toward losing weight. Clearly he was not telling the woman this fact because he wanted her to remain obese in order to attract black men! No, he himself says that he uses frightening facts and statistics in order to spur obese women to change their ways. Therefore he is insinuating that being attractive to a black man is a negative thing – so negative, it might work better than the threat of disease to encourage her to lose weight. If thats not racist, what is?
Anonymous
“Therefore he is insinuating that being attractive to a black man is a negative thing – so negative, it might work better than the threat of disease to encourage her to lose weight. If thats not racist, what is?”
Or is that just your interpretation? And what exactly is wrong with being attractive to black men? Who exactly is being racist here, the doctor, the patient, or both (or neither)? If the doctor did say this, was he simply making an observation, neutrally as it were, or did he think his patient had racist inclinations, and would react constructively to this statement? I don’t know, so how do you know? Funny that this comment comes to light so late after the story hits the press; it looks like someone–the patient maybe, or the NH board, maybe–is feeling unexpected heat and is trying to re-spin the story. I am inclined not to believe it.
And what is this brand of political correctness that makes observations about interracial relationships somehow a forbidden subject? People can talk abouth these things without being tarred as racist. Kindly keep your PC thought policing to yourself.
Anonymous
The doctor himself HAS admitted to citing “an NPR poll” regarding black men as being the only men attracted to obese women, so that point is not in question. The fact that he cited this “fact” as part of his preplanned, usual reasons for obese women to lose weight, quite clearly demonstrates his racial prejudice. The depth of his prejudice is such that he assumes the patient would be just as prejudiced, and would therefore be motivated to lose weight. This is logic 101, in case you never studied philosophy or logic.
Anonymous
Well said. Why would a doctor include such a “fact” along with a list of other negative consequences of obesity, unless he also personally considered that “fact” to be part of that list. That just doesn’t make sense, does it? None of his other reasons to lose weight are “neutral facts” – they are all illnesses to be avoided!
Anonymous
“This is logic 101, in case you never studied philosophy or logic.”
This is nothing of the kind; it is merely your conjecture and assumptions, shot through with your preconceptions and biases. Your “argument is nothing more than an assertion.
You have offered no proof whatsoever that the statement was made–if in fact it was made–with any invidious prejudice.
Anonymous
I bought a car from the physician in new hampshire, he’s a good guy.
Christopher King
I think your analysis is flawed for the following reasons, which may be seen with hot links at:
http://christopher-king.blogspot.com/2005/10/youre-so-obese-only-black-men-will.html
Let’s get a grip, here folks. Dr. Terry Bennett’s comments, in lilly-white New Hampshire, are not the same as a doctor telling a skinny black woman, “you’re so skinny only white boys will like you,” and if you can’t see that, or comprehend why it’s different in a context like this, you may be cursed with another physical ailment beyond the Good Doctor’s bailiwick: Myopia.
Having dated leggy blondes to short brunettes and women of many body compositions between 4’10″ to 6’2″ and in between, I appreciate all sorts of women. But apparently some white professionals in the “Live Free or Die” state don’t appreciate black men appreciating white women in that way because he used it as a scare tactic. Well that’s pretty scary to me, folks, so I’m gonna file a complaint with the Seacoast Branch of the NAACP later today. Peace.
PS: His speech is not entirely protected by the First Amendment, as mine was and is in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. He relinquished a degree of his First Amendment Rights by agreeing to be subject to a regulatory board — and he may even be governed by commercial, rather than general, Free Speech doctrines. I, on the other hand, was exercising a Fundamental right as a free negro (or caucasian) citizen to seek redress for a man who faced three (3) drawn guns, arrest and a body cavity search from undercover police who rousted him and eventually charged him with “loitering,” which he beat. See my 16 Oct. blawg, “Open Complaint to NAACP Legal Defense Fund,” which still has not been answered substantively.
Anonymous
What this article doesn’t say is that the “Doctor” didn’t just say you need to lose weight, he told her that no one would find you attractive and that only black men would be interested in her, because of her size.
It is not the fact that he was blunt with her, but elaborate in such a way was not called for and rude.
This doctor should have some bedside manner and say what the medical affects are of obesity not comment that she won’t be attractive…

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An editorial on Dr. Bennett: I couldn’t have said it better myself

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