Weight Loss Is Not a Substitute for Healthcare: Part 2 - Denial of Care

In part 1 of this series we looked at the basic issues of a healthcare system that is allowed to demand weight loss before patients are able to access healthcare. In this section, we’ll look at BMI-based denials of care. These occur when a patient is denied care unless or until they reach a certain BMI. It is often justified by the idea that higher-weight patients have more complications/worse outcomes and that weight loss will improve this. But it’s far from being that simple.