Doctor Offends Fat Patient

The headline reads "Doctor in trouble for calling patient obese." Something this outrageous had to be investigated. The details of the situation are even stranger.

Doctors are expected to be professional and treat every patient as an individual. Even more, they are expected to diagnose problems and issue solutions. Therefore, when an overweight person comes in for a checkup, the doctor ought to say, "If you don't lose some weight, it's going to kill you." Dr. Terry Bennett of Rochester, NH, did exactly that. Now he's facing disciplinary action because the fat woman complained about being offended.

At least other overweight patients are supporting Bennett. Mindy Haney is a patient of Bennett's who lost 150 pounds. Hearing the truth about her weight initially turned into anger at the doctor, but she soon realized she was only angry at herself. In an interview, Haney said, “What really makes me angry is he told the truth. How can you punish somebody for that?”

If Bennett gets more than a slap on the wrist for his comments (he has already apologized to the lady), then our PC society has gone too far. Why can't we call a fat person "fat?" It's bad enough that they don't want us calling a black person "black"--it's "African American."