Obesity = Child Abuse?

Connor McCreaddie, pictured with his mother above, is a pleasant 8-year-old boy who lives north of London. British authorities are so concerned about Connor's 218 pound weight that they are considering taking the child into protective custody unless mom "improves his diet." (FoxNews.com)

An unnamed health official was quoted as telling The Sunday Times that taking custody of Connor would be a last resort, but said the family had repeatedly failed to attend appointments with nurses, nutritionists and social workers.

"Child abuse is not just about hitting your children or sexually abusing them, it is also about neglect," the official was quoted as saying.

Child abuse? Now, I admit, I don't know all the details on this case (other than what is in this article). But, child abuse? I know that this boy is overweight. I would even agree with classifying him as clinically obese, but characterizing this as child abuse? I think that's a little of a stretch, don't you think?

Dr. Colin Waine, the director of the National Obesity Forum in Nottingham, England, called Connor's lifestyle "extremely dangerous," adding he is at risk of developing diabetes in his early teens, and cardiovascular and nervous system problems in his twenties. "He's really at risk of dying by the time he's 30," Waine said.

Pediatrician Dr. Michael Markiewicz agreed. "I'm not saying they can't care for him, but what they are doing is through the way they are treating him and feeding him, they are slowly killing him," he said.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not endorsing this style of parenting (or lack of parenting). And, again, I have to give the disclaimer that I am not a parent myself. But, if childhood obesity equals child abuse leading to taking a child away from a parent, can you imagine the volume and amount of protective custody cases that would take place in the United States?

According to the Institute of Medicine, NINE MILLION children in the United States over six years old are considered obese. From what I understand, the foster care system is overloaded right now. To add another nine million children would add chaos to chaos.

One more thing to think about. What if childhood obesity was changed to childhood asthma? And, the childhood asthma was caused by secondhand smoke, say, from the parents? According to the American Lung Association, "An estimated 400,000 to one million asthmatic children have their condition worsened by exposure to secondhand smoke." Would you consider this child abuse? Are parents "slowly killing" their children as the pediatrician suggests above?

Sorry for the diatribe, but here's my point. Yes, this is an unfortunate situation for this young man. But, for the government to get involved in this situation is riduclous. There has to be another way to solve this other than to separate a mother from her son.

Update (3pm eastern time): Apparently British authorities have backed away from their position to try to remove Conner from his mother - For now...

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I also posted a video blog on this same commentary. Check out my sidebar and click on the link to my livevideo site. Videoblogging is still tough, but a new challenge that I'm working on.

Original Wendy's To Close Friday

It's the end of an era. The picture above is Dave Thomas, founder of the Wendy's restaurant, standing in front of the original Wendy's in downtown Columbus, Ohio. On Friday, this first Wendy's restaurant will close its doors for the last time. (Columbus Dispatch)

"This was a painful decision," Denny Lynch, a spokesman at Wendy’s headquarters in Dublin, said yesterday after confirming the move. "The store is a walking history of the company."

Wendy’s had put off the decision to close the restaurant at 257 E. Broad St. for years, and acted only after determining that the building would require a costly upgrade.

As you probably know, I've lived in Ohio most of my life. And, I've been to Columbus lots of times. Unfortunately, I had no idea the first and original Wendy's was in downtown Columbus. If I did, then I would have visited there often.

Dave Thomas, who died in 2002, opened the restaurant Nov. 15, 1969, as Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers. It was named for his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou, whose nickname was Wendy. The chain now has 6,600 stores.

In many cities across the United States, many businesses are fleeing from the downtown area. Columbus is no different. There used to be a science center right across the street from this particular Wendy's, and then they moved as well.

The restaurant had its own set of problems. It lacked a drive-through, had limited parking and was not open in the evening because of the lack of dinner traffic.

The flagship store’s closing will have far more sentimental impact than any financial effect on Columbus or on Wendy’s, said Richard Steckel, economics professor at Ohio State University.

"A lot of people had their first dates there, and the people who work for the company are definitely attached to it," he said. "It’s always sad to see a landmark like that go, but it’s the nature of capitalism."

I definitely have mixed feelings about this. When people want to keep something just for a sense of tradition or sentimentality, I'm pretty harsh on them. "Sometimes you have to let go of the past and embrace the present and look to the future," I sometimes say to people.

Even when people say that Dave Thomas himself would have agreed with this move, it doesn't make me feel any better. Maybe a new restaurant will be built and all the memorabilia will be placed there? Of course, the restaurant would be built in the suburbs and not in downtown, because that's probably what Dave would want anyway - For better business...

Girl Scout Cookie Rant

For the love of pete, please say it ain't so! What the heck is this world coming to? How do you define America - Baseball, Mom, Apple Pie, and the Girl Scout cookie (Thin mints, thank you very much).

Yes, it's that time of year again, ladies and gentleman. It's the time of year where all is right with the world. Yes, there's a war on terror going on. Yes, there is poverty and hunger taking place across the world. But, to escape this reality, what do we have? We have the Girl Scout cookie.

People think I'm nuts - and they may be right. But, if you want to properly participate in binge eating (as I do sometimes), then you need the Girl Scout cookie (Thin mints, thank you very much).

But, alas, friends and neighbors. As I was scanning the news today, I ran across a story which stopped me in my tracks. A story which made me cry out, "Oh no! The Girl Scouts caved in, too!"

Beginning this year, ALL Girl Scout cookies will be trans fat free. (Apparently, some GS brands are already trans fat free.) According to this AP article, the scouts want "to add an element of health consciousness to their annual bake sale."

Initial feedback has been positive, said Anna Ho, who organizes sales for Troop 805 in Parsippany, N.J.

"People are saying, 'It's about time,' said Ho. "Everybody is conscious of the trans-fat issue ... My own sister used to rub me in the ribs sometimes and say, 'When are you going to go healthy?'"

Uh, excuse me? But, if I was going to choose something healthy, I would not choose GS cookies. I would choose something like fruits and veggies to snack on.

This is an appeal to the Girl Scout leadership. Please, please, please leave in the trans fats in your products. How could I ever live without those darn trans fats in my favorite Girl Scout cookies? (Thin mints, Thank you very much!)

Serbian Surgeons Gone Wild

While this story may sound like a television show, this is a real deal. Sometimes, you can't make this stuff up. I cannot add any more comedy to this, so I'll quote it verbatim below.

BELGRADE (Reuters) -- A routine appendix operation in Belgrade went badly wrong when two surgeons started fighting and stormed from the operating theater to settle their dispute outside, the daily Politika reported Wednesday.

Surgeon Spasoje Radulovic was operating when his colleague Dragan Vukanic entered and made a remark that started a quarrel, said the anesthesiologist on duty.

"At one moment Vukanic pulled the ear of the operating doctor, slapped him in the face and walked out," she said.

Radulovic followed and an all-out fight ensued, resulting in bruises, a split lip, loose teeth and a fractured finger.

The operation was completed successfully by the attending assistant doctor.

Now, the Doctor Anonymous blog has just received the exclusive footage of this altercation from Belgrade, Serbia. The video is pretty grainy. I guess it's from a security camera in the operating room. What's a security camera doing there? Who knows?

But, because I'll do anything for all of my readers, and I'll do just about anything for ratings, here is the Doctor Anonymous exclusive footage of the fighting video. Enjoy!

Ash Wednesday

With this being the first day of lent, this day already has a type of reflective flavor. But, for me, it's an especially reflective day. I remember it like it was yesterday.

It was the day that the above movie opened, and it was on Ash Wednesday. I was looking forward to seeing The Passion, and then, that afternoon, I received a letter. It was a letter from an attorney. It was a letter requesting medical records regarding a case that I was involved with 12 months prior.

It was a letter which sometimes starts the process which ends up in a court room. The accusation? Malpractice... Beginning that day, I could not sleep for months as that case went through my head again and again. I learned more about the legal system than I ever wanted to know.

Of course, I cannot talk about the particulars because of patient privacy laws. But, suffice to say that this day changed my professional and personal life forever. So, that's why Ash Wednesday is especially reflective for me....

Happy Mardi Gras

I know it's tomorrow, but I wanted to get a head start on things. Yes, that's me behind the mask above. HA! I've never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras or South America for the carnivale celebrations. But, those are on my To-Do list for sometime during my lifetime. If you're looking for a party today, head on over to morgEpalooza! It's his birthday today, and he's only had about 50 posts over there today (he's been quite busy). Wish Morgen a Happy 40th Birthday!

Opportunity

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Over the weekend, I offered to help with a project related to work. Unfortunately, this project will take up some of my blogging time (ek!). Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. I just wanted to let everyone know that I may not be posting as much as I usually do. I'd share what it is, but it's dull and boring to describe. I look forward to a new challenge and a new opportunity for my time and talent. I'm still a blogaholic. But, in the next few weeks, I may be reading blogs more than writing posts....

Court of public opinion

I was struck by a story recently featured on Kevin, MD (interesting comments on this post as well). A patient in California goes to a plastic surgeon, has a procedure, and is not satisfied with the results. So, what does she do? She tells everybody about it. But, here's the twist, she's using the internet, with an interesting website name, to express her opinion.

This story has been going through my head, especially with my recent experience with "the haters." And, I apologize to those of you out there who are sick and tired of me talking about this. But, there is going to be a time, sooner than I think, that a patient around here is going to find out that the wildly popular (LOL) Dr. A is their physician.

According to this news story, patients are well within their 1st Amendment rights to express whatever they want about poor medical care. But, physicians are not able to respond because of the federal privacy rules. That's kind of scary if you ask me.

Now, trying a case in the court of public opinion is not a new thing. I realize people have been doing this forever. But, now, this takes on an interesting twist when the internet is involved. Potentially having my name and reputation smeared internationally is not something that I thought of when I applied to medical school.

Finally, on a lighter note, and from the "Dr. A is a hypocrite file" (*cough*), here is a video blog (not by me), talking about her adventures with her favorite cellular phone company (at least she's not talking about me). Enjoy!

Bestest blog carnival

Yes, that's right. The theme for the Bestest Blog carnival is Valentine's Day. Who better to host this week than Cathy who is still trying to dig out of her house even in the midst of the snowstorm still going on! Thanks for including my submit.

Dr. A. gives a unique take on SEXY. Do you think "sweat" is sexy? Does it turn ya on? Well, apparently some people think so. Read Dr. A.s post, "Sweat as an Aphrodisiac" and don't forget the colorful comment section.

In case you don't know, a blog carnival is a bunch of posts, written by different authors, brought together by a host/hostess. Sometimes there is a theme to the carnival and sometimes there is not. But, there is always great writing in blog carnivals like this one.

Mine was kind of a light hearted post. But, there are many touching stories in the carnival this week. I would encourage you to check it out. The Bestest Blog of All Time sponsors this carnival.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The problem is that it's the day before Valentine's Day. Yeesh! The picture above is from the National Weather Service. All the pink (some people would call it lavender) has been designated "Winter Storm Warning." Here's what this means from NWS (Sorry about the capital letters. It's from their bulletin):

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST WEDNESDAY.

AN ADVANCING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SNOW ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING AND CONTINUING THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS SNOW COULD MIX WITH SLEET BY LATE AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. SOME ISOLATED FREEZING RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

SNOW MAY BE HEAVY AT TIMES TODAY AND TONIGHT. 4 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW COULD ACCUMULATE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...WITH 6 TO 10 INCHES POSSIBLE TO THE NORTH. A PERIOD OF SLEET IS POSSIBLE ON TUESDAY EVENING... FROM PITTSBURGH ON SOUTH.

WEDNESDAY WILL BE QUITE WINDY WITH FALLING TEMPERATURES AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS. POWER OUTAGES ARE POSSIBLE IF A LARGE AMOUNT OF ICE ACCUMULATES ON POWER LINES.

TRAVEL THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING IS DISCOURAGED.

I know my friend Cathy is feeling the pain. She's got a Blizzard Warning (that's the red above). So, be careful out there in the Buckeye state today. The only people that like this type of weather live in Alaska and are in the Iditarod sled dog race. I guess it could be worse. I could be living in upstate New York. Yeesh!