Both the above remarks contain the premise that the patient’s complaint is about being told she is obese, and that there are serious medical consequences to obesity and that they are affecting her now.

I read the doctor’s remarks… and he admits he says a little more than that – and from that gather that there is more to this complaint than being told to lose weight or suffer the medical consquences.

It apparently his manner and the fact that he crossed a line of propriety in an effort to get his patient see the light , that prompted the complaint.

I do no think anyone here would defend a doctor who bullies, berates, demeans a paatient, or makes unsolicited personal remarks about her sexual desirability or marriageability, and I would hope that doctors here try to be appropriate with their patients even thought they are frustrated with a patient’s weight problem.

I work in health care & have seen my share of obese patients. In my opinion, most MD’s come from upper middle class or upper class backgrounds where obesity is something to be ashamed of. By the time they reach medical school they’ve already formed an opinion about obesity, based primarily on ads and stories from the beauty and fashion industries + prejudices from their social class. Nothing is offered in med. school to correct any misinformation they may have or to put obesity in context. Mst MD’s are repulsed by obese patients and don’t care about their feelings. I’ve heard too many stories from patients & they can’t all be lying!
An example from my former job: I had seen a kkdney transplant patient who was obese but had lost 35# since her last appt. The dr. met with her after I did, came out and said, “she’s fat”. I responded that while she still had some weight to lose, she had lost 35#. He said, “It’s nothing”. This patient also said, “if he tells me I’m fat again, I’ll lay him out!”. Does the MD in question really think his patient didn’t know she was obese?!

It is perfectly possible to address a patient’s obesity and be tactful at the same time. If she really weighs 250#, she probably also has elevated cholesterol and/or elevated glucose. He could have addressed the changes she should make in diet and exercise to improve her cholesterol and/or glucose without ever mentioning her weight. He could have referred her to a dietitian (RD) and a social worker (SW) for assessments.

Compulsive overeating, if that is her diagnoses, is at the other end of the eating disorder spectrum from anorexia. Anorexics cannot be forced to eat; why should the converse be any different for obese people? Obesity, like any other chronic condition, has multiple causes, & the gold standard of treatment is multidisciplinary treatment.

Anorexics cannot be forced to eat; why should the converse be any different for obese people?

So then you should not tell an anorexic that she is endangering her life by not eating because you might offend her – like the doc apparently did with the fat lady when he told her the truth about the dangers of her obesity?