Comments on: Too Heavy to Fly

By: Kipper

Kipper — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:28:15 +0000

What a bizarre situation. I can’t imagine being that sick and deciding international travel was a good plan.

Regarding the “doctor haters”: The problem you aren’t seeing is that there are quite a few doctors out there who are unprofessional towards patients at body sizes well below anything that introduce logistical or safety considerations. (In my own life, I once received a mortifying lecture about my weight and diet at a BMI of 21…I can’t even imagine what set that off.) Unsurprisingly, patients who have been treated badly get upset. It’s a shame when doctors who are professional towards their patients feel attacked by that anger.

By: Steve MD

Steve MD — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:22:15 +0000

The general public and even many non surgical physicians have no idea how much more difficult and potentially complicated even routine surgeries are in morbidly obese patients.
I absolutely cringed whenever I had to do a pelvic surgery in morbidly obese women (I’m a gynecologist) because exposure is difficult, bleeding is difficult to control (imagine tying a knot which is in a deep hole filled with fluid, at least a foot away from you, and you get some idea). I felt much more comfortable referring these patients to a gyn oncologist who was more adept at radical surgery which even a routine surgery turned into in most of these patients.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:14:17 +0000

They will lose because their lawyers will cave for a cheap settlement instead of the protracted legal fight a trial will take.

By: Pattie, RN

Pattie, RN — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 13:09:57 +0000

This!

By: Allison

Allison — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:53:45 +0000

….also, I think when you decline medical care that is readily available to you and then die because of a lack of medical treatment, your death really can’t be blamed on anyone else.

By: Allison

Allison — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:52:04 +0000

This lawsuit is just absurd, and I have a hard time understanding how the husband will manage to win.

I’m very curious about the nature of the woman’s medical problems and her ultimate cause of death. All I’ve been able to find is that she had diabetes, a BKA and kidney disease and that she died of kidney failure. Someone above stated she was on dialysis: I haven’t read that anywhere, but if that’s the case, how could she have gone on vacation for even one week without it, let alone 3? If that’s what happened, this trip was a suicidal decision on her part.

The airline was screwed either way here, but I don’t see how they’ll lose this case. There was the safety of the other passengers to consider as well: what if there was an emergency that required use of the emergency exits and this obese woman either couldn’t make it to the exit or blocked the way from other passengers? What if she had to go to the bathroom mid-flight? If a fire brigade couldn’t move her from a wheelchair to the airplane seats I doubt she could make it to–or even fit inside of–the airplane bathroom.

This wasn’t discrimination. This was common sense!

By: Student Paramed

Student Paramed — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:43:07 +0000

Recently, my home town newspaper ran a story about a lady who died (of an ami) waiting 6 hours for an ambulance. I was horrified…. What was I getting myself into?
Further investigation revealed she died waiting for one of the state’s 2 bariatric ambulance as our normal ones have a load limit of 250kgs (550 pounds).
As Peter Porker’s Uncle Ben reminds us…. “With great weight comes great risks”.

By: Isabella B

Isabella B — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:10:54 +0000

My heart goes out to the family. I wish they would’ve given the hospitals in Hungary a chance. My mom and dad were born in Hungary and then came to the US in 1965. In 1991 my mom woke up one morning, paralyzed from Guillian Barre. She was in/out of hospitals here in the US and they said she would never walk again. Her sister, Clari, came her from Hungary to help us take care of her. Clari felt it was best to take her back home to Hungary for treatment and I Thank God she did. After 9 months, in 3 different hospitals in Hungary, my beautiful mother came home and walked. Plasmapheris, the treatment in Hungary, helped give me back my dear mother. I will forever be grateful for the time we had with my dear mother. Sadly, she passed this year but without the knowledge of the doctors. in Hungary I would’ve lost her a long time ago. Always have hope. If this email helps one person on a path to better health, then I am spreading my moms unconditional caring heart and love. My best to all of you.
Isabella NJ

By: Gwen

Gwen — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:54:33 +0000

She had a choice in not going to her holiday vacation home in Hungary. VACATION HOME. She decided to go to a vacation home. Yes I said that a few times to get my point across. Her husband is suing for 6 million dollars because of what exactly? They knew what they were getting into when they flew to Hungary. She was on dialysis. What were they going to do in Hungary for that? The risks were there already and going for 9 more days without dialysis was just plain negligence on both the husband and the woman’s part. The 3 airlines that they tried to fly on spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to get her on the planes and strapped down to no avail. On one plane the captain came out and just told her to get off because she did not fit. Just because you buy 2-3 seats does not mean you can actually fit in them.

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:09:26 +0000

The article states that they drove, by van, 4 hours to one of the airports. One can safely assume that they could have gone to almost any other European country for care, but chose not to.