Man Gains Weight for Gastric Bypass Operation
It beggars belief that a system is in place that causes a man to actually feel he needs to gain weight in order to qualify for a medical procedure to help him LOSE WEIGHT!
While it may sound extraordinarily nonsensical, in order to qualify for a state-paid operation to help him lose weight, a man must first gain it to meet the criteria.
Despite his already excessive body weight, it is not quite enough to reach the guidelines set by the medical body overseeing gastric bypass operations.
Increase BMI to Qualify
The 45 year old, 280 pound UK man from Portsmouth, Darin McCloud was told by the National Health Service (NHS) he did not qualify for what he believed was an essential gastric bypass operation because he did not meet their criteria.
He has been a diabetes sufferer for 15 years and was told that the operation may help him also beat the disease.
He did not want to be a burden on his family as he got older, so decided that he would apply for the NHS operation, at a cost to the British public of around £30,000 GBP.
According to health chiefs, the criteria for qualifying for this type of weight loss surgery on the NHS is that of having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 45. Currently Mr McCloud has a BMI of 43.5, which is below the minimum requirement.
So in order to qualify for the operation, he has decided that he will eat more in order to gain enough weight to qualify.
According to experts, this is not a sensible choice as it would be much more helpful to the man for him to attempt to lose weight by eating a healthy diet and getting some exercise instead of force feeding himself bacon rolls and potato chips every day in order to get fatter. Unfortunately, he mind is made up and he will keep eating until he tips the scales at an additional 20 pounds or so.
A Crazy System
This crazy situation has actually come about because of the system that provides the surgery at no cost to the patient -- a cost that is born by the British heath care system that is paid for by every working person in the country via their social security contributions that are taken from their wages at source.
A similar situation occurs in the US with health insurance whereby if a person decides they want to have the weight loss surgery they must also meet their insurance's weight qualifying limits and if they fall short, they also must gain weight to meet them.
It is more common than people realize as those who want the surgery start eating more and go for weekly weigh-ins. As soon as they hit the magic figure, they are whisked away for their operation!
As a timely warning to anyone considering this course of action, I would advise against it because of the additional dangers to health that could potentially present themselves by deliberately trying to nudge the scales higher than they already are. It's better to pay closer attention to your diet and cut out as much sugar, refined carbs and junk as you can and watch your weight decrease as if by magic!
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Posted on Fri, 28 Jan 2011 in News | 0 Comments