Thursday, August 02, 2007

Head Of British Medical Association Making Waves

Looks like Michael Moore wouldn't be eligible for treatment of obesity and the complications that come with it, if a the top doctor in the UK had his way.

Obese people are often simply greedy and should not always be treated with pills, the head of the British Medical Association has said.

Dr Hamish Meldrum believes an obsession with medical labels may be stopping overweight people addressing their own problems.

He said the obesity epidemic is being mistakenly targeted with medical treatments and doctors' appointments.

Dr Meldrum told our sister paper, the Evening Standard: "We are saying, 'This patient has a hyper-appetite problem' rather than, 'They are just greedy.'

He is partially right. Preventative care is always better than secondary or tertiary. But the point I want to make is this:

Those that think that a government run health care system would be a panacea for those that need medical care, would be very wise to think about the repercussions of a bureaucrat running it. Bureaucrats seldom look at things on a micro level, they seldom individualize their philosophies. Instead, they tend to generalize things to the degree that it becomes a one-size fits all institution (and that goes for anything, not just medical care).

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