Obese man Luis Almario's legal battle prompts warning to treat obesity seriously

[Northerner]

A Sydney man who successfully sued his doctor for failing to treat his obesity has lost a bid to be heard in the High Court after his GP had the original judgment overturned.

An epidemic of obesity is engulfing Australia, and Luis Almario's case raises intriguing questions about personal responsibility versus the medical duty of care.

Mr Almario, a former Colombian journalist and political refugee, has liver cancer and now lives on borrowed time.

His cancer is a direct result of his obesity, weight that he battled hard to shed. It could have been surgically treated, but it was not, for which he blamed his doctor.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-...e-prompts-obesity-warning/4913292?section=nsw

 

[LeeLee]

I find that one a bit disturbing.

 

[Northerner]

I think the defence that the doctor had told him to lose weight reminds me of the way so many diabetes patients are told to 'lose weight and eat a healthy diet'. There needs to be personal responsibility, of course, but a person needs to make good, informed choices about how to tackle their problems.