In the state of Florida, several OBGYN doctors set a weight limit for their patients, causing a massive amount of anger from overweight patients who can no longer receive their services. The media picked up on the arguments shortly afterwards, and recently the news has been peppered with stories of medical staff and discrimination. Some obese patients say that when they go to the doctor's office, they are treated different because of their size. Some argue that they have been treated as less than human simply because of their weight, while others admit that doctor's have shamed and embarrassed them during encounters because of their eating choices and subsequent size.

One woman claims that she went to her doctor to complain of knee problems. When she arrived, the phsyicians took a look at her, stood back, and told her that if she went on a diet and lost weight her knee would feel better. The patient was appalled, claiming that this was a misdiagnosis because she had knee problems that were unrelated to her weight. She was also shocked that the doctor never even touched her knee at all or did any inspection of the joint before simply prescribing a diet and then leaving the room. This victim was not only embarrassed, but angered by treatment and went straight to the press with her story.

While some individuals say that doctors should have the right to set weight limits for their patients, most do not. Some doctors claim that they have set these limits because working with overweight patients creates added risk. Obese patients normally have more health complications and treating their health complications can be more difficult. A fit and healthy person is much easier to examine and much easier to treat. Surgeons say that sometimes overweight individuals are very hard to operate on. In some circumstances, patients are required to lose weight before going in for a procedure so that the doctors will have a lessened risk of a complication during the operation.

One physician featured on The Huffington Post says that individuals who are overweight may have to lose weight for surgery, but they should never be turned away because of their appearance or their weight. Instead, doctors should do what they can to help weight-challenged patients by suggesting diets and exercise plans for them. Professionals say that a doctor should work with you to achieve your ideal healthy weight. If your doctor instead calls you demeaning names or terms like "fat" "huge" "a pig" or any other derogatory and inappropriate words, then you may have the right to sue for medical malpractice.

This is because the doctor is acting outside of his or her legal rights and violating the respect that is assumed in a patient-doctor relationship. Research done at Yale University proves that discrimination against obese people in the medical field is not rare. Some medical journals report that weight bias in society is a prevalent as racism. The Yale study on this subject involved interviews and information from over 350,000 people and 2,500 doctors.

One-third of all the doctors interviewed admitted that they stereotype their overweight patients as sloppy, weak-willed, lazy, and more. Women interviewed admitted that they were stereotyped twice as often as men were. Another study at John Hopkins University examined medical records and learned that obese patients are less likely to receive empathy from their doctors. If you are experiencing rude and insensitive treatment from a doctor, talk to an attorney about suing for medical malpractice today. Don't hesitate to use this opportunity to hold a doctor accountable and fight against discrimination!