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One Man’s 43-Hour Surgery, Dying of a Broken Heart, and Can Doctors “Fire” Their Patients?

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A marathon operation: It took 43 hours to finish.

Can people die of a broken heart? Apparently, yes.

UnitedHealthcare sends doctors individualized report cards.

World’s fattest man (he used to eat 20,000 calories a day) is writing a book on how to lose weight. We previously reported on the former record-holder, Manuel Uribe, who shed more than half of his weight to get married.

 worlds-fattest-man

Paul Mason
700 pounds

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9 thoughts on “One Man’s 43-Hour Surgery, Dying of a Broken Heart, and Can Doctors “Fire” Their Patients?”

  2. I never thought about there being ethical restrictions on a doctor’s ability to get rid of a patient. Shouldn’t all relationships be “at will”?

  3. It would be more interesting to learn how fatso worked his way up to the 20,000 per day intake level.

  4. That operation lasted almost two days. Do you suppose the medical staff was the same for the whole operaion? Or do you think they work in shifts?

  5. About doctors breaking up with patients:

    I don’t see why there should be any ethical issues. I know lots of vets that refuse to treat unruly horses. It forces the horse’s owner to either train the horse to behave or to pay more for a vet that will put up with the abuse.

    And I know a lot of businesses that will throw out a customer who is causing a scene. There should be no ethical problems with forcing a patient to either change their attitude or seek other sources of treatment.

  6. Apparently doctors cannot dissolve a relationship with a patient at will (that is, for any reason whatsoever). There are only certain reasons that are deemed ethical. A patient being unruly or making a scene would probably count as ethically okay reasons for firing a patient.

  7. Here’s an idea: Why don’t the doctors send UnitedHealthcare a report card??????

    Also why did the insurance company start running all the letters in its name together? Does that subliminally suggest a conglomerate?

  8. Paul Mason must be consuming 1,250 calories (a substantial size meal) an hour for every single waking hour.

  9. I’ve been refused treatment by ophthalmologists before. So I guess the answer is yes, an MD can refuse to treat.

    There is something in the laws about people in the US having a right to access to healthcare, but in practicality it doesn’t seem to apply to those who are already under shady umbrella of health insurance companies (i.e. have health insurance).

    If a Dr has an especially difficult patient, I don’t see any reason they should be forced to keep them. If the patient has a long term health situation and can be referred to another clinic, then why not?

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