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Old 06-18-2006, 03:00 PM   #13
9th Engineer
Bioengineer and aspiring lawer
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Pittsburgh
Posts: 872
A collegue of my father's told me about a case they had a few days ago. A woman came into the ER with a stroke and a collapsed lung. She was so fat they couldn't put a chest tube in her so they needed to move her into the OR. Picture three docs, all with multiple other trauma cases comming in to deal with, having to shove their hands into her chest halfway to the elbow to hold back her fat so that yet another doctor could get a tube into her chest cavity to release the fluid pressure against her lungs. Not only did she endanger the lives of other people comming in from car accidents and serious injuries by forcing half the doctors in the ER to divert their attention, but if the time delay was the difference between her living or dying all of those doctors are now up for a lawsuit. But of course a jury would never hear that side of the story. We may live in a free country, but other people always have to take responsibility for people like this. I don't care if the 300lb guy in front of me at McDonalds can't have his Big Mac and large shake, I'll probably end up paying his medical bill anyway!!
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