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UK man refused ankle surgery by NHS because he smokes

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by weslinder, Sep 14, 2007.

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  1. weslinder

    weslinder Member

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    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/14/nsmoker114.xml


    Smoker refused operation on broken ankle
    Last Updated: 6:17am BST 14/09/2007

    A smoker is facing years of pain after an NHS hospital refused to set his broken ankle unless he gives up cigarettes.

    John Nuttall, 57, needs the operation to fix the ankle he broke in three places two years ago and which was not healed by a plaster cast.

    Doctors at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have refused to operate to rebuild the ankle because they say Mr Nuttall's heavy smoking would reduce the chance of a full recovery.

    They have told him to give up smoking before they operate but the retired builder has been unable to break his habit.

    Mr Nuttall says he is in constant pain from the grating of the broken bones against each other and has been prescribed daily doses of morphine.

    He refused surgery when he first injured the ankle in a fall in 2005 because he was worried about catching MRSA in hospital. When he went back a few weeks later and the ankle had not set he said he was told he would have to give up smoking before doctors could operate.

    Mr Nuttall, from Newlyn, west Cornwall, said: "I have begged them to operate but they won't. I have tried my hardest to give up smoking but I can't.

    "I want to warn other smokers. We have paid our National Insurance stamps all our lives and now we are being shut out of the NHS."

    A spokesman for the hospital trust said: "Smoking has a very big influence on the outcome of this type of surgery and the healing process would be hindered significantly."
     
    #1 weslinder, Sep 14, 2007
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2007
  2. bronxfan

    bronxfan Member

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    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.
     
  3. basso

    basso Member
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    hillarycare, here we come.
     
  4. RocketMan Tex

    RocketMan Tex Member

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    And that beats no care at all.
     
  5. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Probably still way better than BushCare.

    Not a Hillary fan, but, just sayin'.

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

    SamFisher Member

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    This makes me more likely to support national health care.
     
  7. Master Baiter

    Master Baiter Member

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    Fatty falls in a faint
     
  8. NewYorker

    NewYorker Ghost of Clutch Fans

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

    insane man Member

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    your lying about the subject.

    nhs didn't refuse. the doctors did.
     
  10. pppbigppp

    pppbigppp Member

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    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.
     
  11. Refman

    Refman Member

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    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.
     
  12. bronxfan

    bronxfan Member

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    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)
     
  13. MadMax

    MadMax Member

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    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.
     
  14. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

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    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.
     
  15. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    He should quit smoking, get his ankle fixed, then start again if he wants.
     
  16. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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  17. HayesStreet

    HayesStreet Member

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    Smoking has a big outcome on ankle surgery?

    Dubious.
     
  18. Jebus

    Jebus Member

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

    HayesStreet Member

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    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.
     
  20. rezdawg

    rezdawg Member

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    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.
     

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