UK man refused ankle surgery by NHS because he smokes

Granted I don't know all the details - but it sounds like his ankle surgery is not emergent. Given that it is often the case where people are optimized prior to surgery. my suspician is that his smoking has shown some lung damage that the surgeons want minimized (reversed) prior to surgery.

 

hillarycare, here we come.

 

And that beats no care at all.

 

Probably still way better than BushCare.

Not a Hillary fan, but, just sayin'.

Who said neocons are liberal/"progressive" on domestic issues?

 

This makes me more likely to support national health care.

 

Fatty falls in a faint

 

i'm sorry, but if you can't quit smoking long enough to have surgery, than you are a fool.

 

your lying about the subject.

nhs didn't refuse. the doctors did.

 

And then there are those who b**** about smokers having free reign due to NHS.

Seriously, is there actually any better way to handle the situation? Quit smoking and get your knee repair, fool.

 

In this case, is there really a difference?

He has paid into NHS his entire adult life, and now he is not receiving the care.

NHS is the biggest HMO imaginable. Those of us who b**** about HMOs should expect to continue to have the same gripes once we have socialized medicine.

 

i hate to tell you but a ton of patients have surgeries deferred because of the liability of taking someone suboptimal to the operating room. in all likelihood its the MD's who are deferring surgery because the man is at much higher risk going into surgery than waiting. HMO's (and I work for one) never get involved with this sort of decision making. More than likely one of his surgeons made the call (who in this country are by far Republican - for what that adds to this conversation)

 

The difference is...doctors are making this decision. Not administrators of a health care plan whose experience with medicine begins and ends with going to the doctor followed by a trip to Walgreen's.

 

my response was going to be what's wrong with listening to your doctor. I guess if you have money you don't have to listen to anyone.

 

He should quit smoking, get his ankle fixed, then start again if he wants.

 

delete

 

Smoking has a big outcome on ankle surgery?

Dubious.

 

no, not dubious at all. Accepted medical knowledge.
smoking has a strong negative effect on wound healing.

 

I'm 100% certain it does not have as much negative effect as not performing the surgery. We don't even have to get into the argument that the use of leeches were 'accepted medical knowledge' at one time, nor that such declarations in this case are foolhardy and unprovable at best.

 

If I were the doctors in this case, I would not perform surgery until the patient has stopped smoking for at least a couple of days. Some surgeons require a couple of weeks.

Its not some sort of theory, there is plenty of evidence to show the effects of smoking when a patient has to go under anesthesia. Pulmonary complications after anesthesia are increased 10 fold...and wound healing is also a major factor...as well as cardiovascular complications.