Canadian doctors are refusing to operate on a man who won’t give up smoking:

Robert Randall, a fisherman from southeastern New Brunswick, says he has smoked for over 30 years. Randall says there’s no way he can give up cigarettes prior to the surgery required to further repair his previously broken knee and leg.

Randall hasn’t been able to work for two years because of ongoing problems with his leg, which was smashed in a snowmobile accident.

Orthopedic doctors have known for years that smoking impedes healing in many of their patients, but the decision not to perform a procedure on a smoker is raising ethical questions.