Obese patients shut out of advanced imaging options
Physical and emotional challenges separate many obese people from numerous healthcare access points—and imaging is a common area of struggle.
The New York Times shines a light on the situation in a Sept. 25 article.
“Scanners that can handle very heavy people are manufactured, but one national survey found that at least 90 percent of emergency rooms did not have them,” reports science writer Gina Kolata. “Even four in five community hospitals that were deemed bariatric surgery centers of excellence lacked scanners that could handle very heavy people. Yet CT or MRI imaging is needed to evaluate patients with a variety of ailments, including trauma, acute abdominal pain, lung blood clots and strokes.”
Doctors have been known to “just give up” on obese patients who can’t fit inside a scanner, Kolata writes.
“Some use x-rays to scan, hoping for the best. Others resort to more extreme measures.”
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Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.