Eye Doctor Pokes Patient’s Thigh, Tells Her She’s Fat
November 24th, 2009
And he may lose his license because of it.
He admitted he told the patient that thick eyeglasses would not cause her to go blind “but her thick thighs and diabetes would. I poked her thigh to emphasize that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness,” he said Thursday. “People have got to accept criticism without getting their bowels in an uproar.” Sunderhaus, a trim man who appeared before the board wearing cargo pants and sporting a backpack, makes no apologies for his actions.
Apparently he also sexually harassed the reporter who interviewed him! Well, he “tucked $20 into her sweater” which she then returned to him. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Via Obscure Store.
Posted by mo pie
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I’m trying not to laugh, I swear.
This guy is such an epic douche. He’s like a self-induced parody. Wow.
Just. Wow.
Peace,
Shannon
That entire article was painful to read but this… “Sunderhaus’ point — that doctors need to advise patients to lose weight, because obesity is not just a personal issue, it’s a $147 billion public health crisis — may have gotten lost in the delivery.” made me roll my eyes so hard that I’m now blind.
I guess he’ll just have to accept the loss of his medical license without getting his bowels in an uproar.
Karma, dude!
Though his bedside manner could use more than a little work… he’s old and crotchety and I doubt this is the first time he’s acted like this. Meaning if the woman probably should have switched doctors sooner.
I do have to agree with him somewhat though. I DO find it irresponsible for an unemployed woman on Medicaid to get pregnant, let alone pregnant again. That’s just ridiculous.
And, as a doctor he is somewhat obligated to notify her of her overweight status, but only in the manner of stating the facts. Much the same way a patient would be told if they were underweight or lacking physical fitness (which has little to do with weight by the by).
The manner in which he did it is appalling of course, but I doubt this is the first incidence of his. Patients shouldn’t wait for the “last straw” before deciding to switch doctors and/or notify someone.
True story: i had an appointment with a doctor who wanted to cancel because of an insurance mix-up. He looked at me and said, “I can’t fit in a prenatal visit. And i certainly can’t deliver the baby.” I looked at him, smiled and responded, “I’m not pregnant. I’m just fat.”
I got my appointment. :D I hate doctors.
No, he is NOT obligated to inform a patient that she is fat, NO doctor is, but particularly not a goddamn EYE doctor! And, no Dr. Asshole, ‘obesity’ is NOT a health crisis costing this country $147 billion! I have been extremely near-sighted all my life, had hereditary cataracts removed & lens implants ten years ago & have better vision than ever in my life, but if any optometrist or ophthalmologist dared to yap at me about any part of my body other than my eyes (other than checking for possible drug interactions & what was GERMANE to my case, that ‘doctor’ would have been history.
I don’t need anyone, especially a doctor, telling me that I am fat. Nor do I need to be told that I need to diet for my ‘health’, especially not now that I am past 60 & dieting, while endangering the health of anyone, has been shown to increase mortality risks by several hundred percent, while being somewhat fat has been shown to give health protection, ESPECIALLY for older people. I no more want anyone lecturing me about my weight than I want him lecturing me about having red hair or green eyes or having been disabled since birth with cerebral palsy; ALL those things are part of me, not easily subject to modification & they do not need to be modified.
So my advise to doctors has been for years to treat me as you would a thin person; if I have a health problem, address it as you would in a thin person, but do not ASSUME that I have health issues because of my body weight & do not bring in my weight unless I ask you to do so. And do treat me with respect & do not cross my boundaries. And I don’t care how the hell old you are or how long people have allowed you to get away with unacceptable behavior.
And I also HATE doctors & do not do regular exams or any of the rest, so I am a non-compliant, ‘bad’ healthcare consumer.
“And, as a doctor he is somewhat obligated to notify her of her overweight status, but only in the manner of stating the facts.”
So as an EYE doctor, he’s obligated to notify her of her weight..? I really don’t get it.
Nor do I think anyone has to be “notified” of their weight. Fat people know they’re fat. Every doctor should know that and take that into account.
…Are thick thighs even a risk factor for diabetes anyway?
“Sunderhaus’ point — that doctors need to advise patients to lose weight, because obesity is not just a personal issue, it’s a $147 billion public health crisis — may have gotten lost in the delivery.”
Wow, he’s just a voice in the wilderness and no one will hear him!
Wow, majorly embarrassed! I must have completely skimmed over the “eye doctor” part (nevermind that it was in the topic heading!). So mentioning her weight would be pretty out of line, however again, I doubt this is the first time he’s acted in such a manner and therefore this woman probably should have switched optometrists a bit sooner. Not to mention the medicaid manner is still outrageous.
Either way, my mistake. Sorry all!
Honestly, nothing that doctor said was any of his stinking business. I may personally feel her economic situation may be a bit irresponsible, I also have no idea about her personal life and no idea if any of this is by choice or not. And that doctor had no more right than I do to lecture her about that or her weight, especially not in that manner.
I’m actually kind of appalled by the victim blaming- “She probably should have switched doctors before.” I’m sorry, she is the clear victim in this situation, regardless of her personal life, choices, or size. There may be other things going on, but he had no right to act that way, period.
So, illini13, as her eye doctor it’s reasonable for him to push his opinion of her lifestyle onto her? Because he has a moral objection to her choosing to have a child while on medicaid? It’s not actually his business. His business is to treat her eyes.
The point you keep pushing that she should have switched doctors a long time ago, also completely not relevant here. Doctors don’t get free passes to bully their patients around just because they got away with it for so long. You don’t know the reason it’s just now coming out. Maybe it’s the first time she’s seen this doctor. Maybe it isn’t and she’s been putting up with various degrees of abuse from him for years but couldn’t switch because the network of eye doctors that will accept medicaid is pretty small. Maybe she was just too intimidated to speak up before. It really doesn’t matter though does it because she’s reporting inappropriate behavior from her doctor now.
He may feel she’s too fat and irresponsible for getting pregnant so quickly after having another baby while on Medicaid and unemployed but as her EYE DOCTOR, that is none of his business and it his not his place to judge her body or lifestyle while providing medical treatment.
Reading the comments with the original article (and illini13 here), I just want to weep. I’ve been fat since puberty, and I’ve *tried* to become thin. Over and over, always with the same result – the fat comes back and brings friends.
I’m learning to eat mindfully (and intuitively), but I can’t learn to love myself despite of (or including) my fatness. There’s just too much hate bombarding me every day.
Last week a co-worker announced how she resented the idea of having to pay for health care for “stupid smokers and fat slobs who just stuff themselves”… in front of me. When I asked if she really thought that *I* didn’t deserve health care she backpedaled. “You eat *healthy* foods,” she protested. “I don’t mean you.” Uh, yeah, she does. They used invalid and unrealistic metrics like BMI to determine if you “deserve” to live. No one cares how I really eat – they think they know, and they evidently also think that I’m so stupid I don’t *know* I’m fat.
For the love of dog – is it really anyone else’s *business*? Are people really so perfect that they’re entitled to judge what other people can do?
:: weeps ::
FAT PEOPLE ARE FAT. WE GET IT. You don’t have to assume we’re stupid AND fat.
I went in for a doctor’s exam because I had to get a physical for a job (I’m a size 18, folks, I eat relatively healthy, and make it to the gym three times a week pretty consistently). The health forms were extensive (it was government-related) and asked things at the end like “Do you [the doctor] think the applicant has any disabilities, visible or otherwise, that would prevent him/her from fulfilling the job?” He made a point of checking YES and writing down that I was OBESE. It later asked if I have any “mental health issues” that would prevent me from fulfilling the job. He asked if I had depression, anxiety, etc then threw in “How about failed diets? Have a lot of those?” and started to check yes. I voiced my objections and he just left it blank (didn’t check yes or no.) The final page was a physical inventory, things like “Can you climb 2 flights of stairs?” and “Can you walk on paved flat terrain for ______ distance?” I filled it out, he signed it, but wrote a big long note about how he had no proof of these things and way relying on my filling out the forms on his behalf.
Jackass.
I was a sitting duck, yes, because I WAS going in for a physical. And if I were to do it again, I’d be more vocal about my objections (I was young and didn’t want to risk him not filling it out and me not getting the job.) But still … doctors should not throw their bedside manner out the window just because someone doesn’t fit their perfect BMI chart.
Also, no life choices the person in the original article made would make bullying and rudeness OK.
Wow, that guy is a major A-hole. Sadly, the world is full of people like him. I’m so sick of the stupidity, I already decided the next time someone has something to say about any part of my appearance, that person is going to get it. I will go OFF, tell them about themselves, and insult everyone else they know.
Doctors need to learn their place. If a person didn’t ask an opinion, DON’T GIVE IT, and don’t assume weight is the answer to everything.
illini13 – so that woman’s stupid for being abused by a healthcare provider? Wow. Nice to see “blame the victim” is still alive and well. Many people – especially if she’s on Medicare in the US – aren’t able to negotiate a change of doctor easily, and even if she could, there is no way to predict in advance which doctor is going to be unprofessional and abusive.
And no, thigh size bears no relation to diabetes – in fact, women carrying weight below the waist have a lower diabetes risk than those carrying weight above the waist. But the highest risk is still…GENETIC PREDISPOSITION!
Not that it really matters, but was the patient even diabetic in the first place? It doesn’t say anywhere that she is or isn’t, but it seems that much worse if he just assumed that because of her weight too.
I also feel like it’s even more sketchy since he poked her in the thigh, which seems more sexual than, say, her arm. (Not that either would be appropriate, but I’m wondering if the location made her feel even more like it was crossing a line.)
Well, even the people who are defending him with he hard a moral obligation, blah, blah…
Did he really put $20 in the reporter’s sweater? Because you cant’ defend that with well-timed remarks about the “obesity epidemic”
Is loving Alyssa’s comment XD!!
I hope he really does lose his licence now. What an ass.
“I DO find it irresponsible for an unemployed woman on Medicaid to get pregnant, let alone pregnant again. That’s just ridiculous.”
Did you just say that out loud?
Well, I have to say I read the article and had to shake my head! The old man (he’s 77 and very old school from the sounds of it) is obviously loony and just barely keeping in touch with reality.
When I was 14 years old and just finished cancer treatments I was puffed up like the pillsbury dough boy and extremely self conscious, my grandfather decided it was his duty to inform me that I had gotten fat. Well lets just say that 12 years later, the old f—er isn’t my favourtie grandparent.
Oh my gawd. That is simply unacceptable! He’s an eye doctor and he can’t go poking around people’s thighs. He could’ve made his point about the cause of the patient’s blindness by doing something else. Like talking to her about it. I even used to hate it when my relatives from my dad’s side would mention how fat I got. I hated it even more when I saw the amused look on their faces. I hope the doctor loses his license. He has no professionalism!
-Denise