Is your bias hurting patients?

The issue is weight stigma. I’m hoping writing here can help and ensure other people don't have to go through what I am. I am a fat person, and what that means to me at the moment is that I cannot access needed medical care because of systemic weight bias. I needed an MRI-guided biopsy, but not only did they have no gowns I could wear and I was forced to walk nearly naked through a busy radiology waiting room, but I also then could not fit in the scanner. I wasn’t able to get my biopsy. I will likely have to travel many hours, on my own dime, to access care in another province, and will likely have a significant delay in treatment because of it. And the result could be catastrophic for my health. Read: How anti-fat bias in healthcare endangers lives This is not the first time things like this have happened. A few years ago I was unable to get trauma surgery on my knee for five days after I shattered it, and the result was a compartment syndrome with lifelong nerve and muscle damage in my leg. I had my central line contaminated because of a physician enthusiastically regaling me about a weight-loss program while inserting it. I was refused for knee replacement for three years because of my weight. And I am not the largest person I know—I have many patients who will suffer more than I have. It has become clear to me that regardless of this particular health issue I'm facing, the thing I’m most likely to die of in the foreseeable future is weight stigma. The medical system is my biggest risk factor. I’m not expecting any specific help here. I am managing my own health issues as best as can be under the circumstances, and I have some amazing physicians trying to help me. My goal in publishing this is to hopefully put a bug in the ear of a group of progressive physicians so that, within your own spheres of influence, you can keep an eye out and advocate against weight stigma in your own areas. Do your hospitals have chairs that will fit a person who is large? Does every office have a range of blood pressure cuff sizes? Do you have gowns that will adequately cover a large person so they don't have to give an impromptu strip show to unsuspecting people just trying to get an X-ray? When the time comes for new equipment to be purchased, be it chairs or operating tables or MRI scanners, can you advocate for the extra expenditure involved to ensure that the one with the highest weight limit is purchased? Can you suggest that someone who is living in a larger body—even better, someone whose size intersects with race or gender or disability—be included in your equity, diversity and inclusion committees? For anyone who reads this, thanks. It helps to think I can use my crappy experiences to help ensure other people don’t go through the same thing. Dr. Stephanie Hart is a family doctor in Okotoks, Alta. who runs a niche practice in sexual function.

Is your bias hurting patients?

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