“A person’s healthcare is not the government’s business!” we hear. “That’s between him and his doctor!” Funny thing, though:
Unless the issue is abortion, this philosophy goes right out the medical office window.
It’s not just the Covid shots, either. In fact, the latest example is that the Oregon Medical Board (OMB), reports hold, is poised to make physicians’ commission of “microaggressions” possible grounds for medical license revocation.
What’s more, get a load of what’s reportedly an example of a such a career-ending trespass: telling a non-white patient he needs to shed pounds.
Presumably, this is about coddling (to death?) blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. For these groups, the feds’ Office of Minority Health itself tells us, have a greater problem with obesity than whites do. (Note that Asian-descent Americans have less than half whites’ obesity rate. But doctors will still be allowed to tell a white guy he’s a fatso.)
This gets worse still, though. If you’re a doctor who fails to report a colleague’s microaggression thought crime, the OMB may revoke your license, too.
The Washington Free Beacon reports on the story:
“America is the land of opportunity.” “I believe the most qualified person should get the job.” “America is a melting pot.” Those are examples of harmful “microaggressions,” according to Columbia professor Derald Wing Sue, lauded by Oregon’s state government as a “microaggressions expert.”
Now, under a soon-to-be-finalized ethics rule from the Oregon Medical Board, doctors who commit “microaggressions” risk losing their medical licenses.
Under Oregon law, doctors who fail to report “unprofessional conduct” from themselves or a colleague within 10 business days can face severe penalties, including loss of license. The state’s medical board is in the process of shoehorning “microaggressions” — innocently intentioned behaviors interpreted by women or minorities to be subliminal communications of bias — into its definition of “unprofessional conduct,” according to the proposed rule, which the board unveiled in April.
One problem is that “microaggressions,” a term made up last Thursday (figuratively speaking), describes a nebulous notion. In fact, “It’s unclear how exactly the board would define a microaggression or review a microaggression-related complaint,” the Beacon also informs — “the proposed rule does not provide examples.”
In reality, this complete subjectivity is the antithesis of what law should be. Just consider that people “who engage in microaggressions may mean no harm toward the person or group being targeted,” relates MedicalNewsToday. “They may not even realize that they are making a microaggressive comment or action.”
So this is Stalinesque. A person can be punished for having innocently said something that only last week would’ve passed muster, but that a Professor Sue just “discovered” is harmful and a bureaucrat just fancied is actionable. (Note as well that Sue and others make a lot of money conjuring up and pushing these ideas.)
This is why, while some may say the obesity-warning concerns are fear-mongering, we can’t know how the OMB regulations will be applied. As for those concerns, the Beacon tells us that at “the University of California, Los Angeles medical school, for example, a mandatory ‘health equity’ class taught future doctors that weight loss is a ‘hopeless endeavor.’” Commentator Andrea Widburg expanded on this.
“The way this is going to work for Oregon doctors if the rule passes is that, if they comment on a minority’s weight, they’re being racist,” she theorizes. “Worried doctors, therefore, will refrain from giving minority patients information about the health risks of obesity. However, if one of those worried doctors loses a patient to a heart attack or Type II diabetes, that same doctor can expect a malpractice lawsuit for failing to advise the patient about the health risks of obesity. It’s a no-win situation for doctors.”
So how could a physician warn a corpulent minority away from the Twinkies? “You’re, uh, getting somewhat pleasantly plump there, amigo”? “You’re developing generous proportions”?
Or do you say “friendly-fronted” to avoid affront?
Perhaps it’s more likely we’d hear, “You’re plumping up nicely, DeShawn! Another 150 pounds and you’ll be in that Jabba the Hut range that can get ya’ into movies.”
“Now, let me just do some more tests to find out why you had a stroke while you were having a heart attack.”
In reality, the evolution of obesity’s treatment has been interesting. There was a time when it might’ve been considered a sign of prosperity, but that was before our societal prosperity gave us fat poor people. The next step was that being svelte signified riches — as wealthy people could afford more healthful foods, home gyms, and personal trainers — and being overweight was frowned upon. Now the Left has made the obese another victim identity group.
Thus do we have episodes such as the below, in which a 260-pound woman has her excuses all lined up.
“It’s not just one woman on TikTok,” either, notes Widburg. “This past November, an ostensible ‘science’ article was published blaming ‘structural racism on childhood obesity.’ And two years ago, a gal with a BS degree (I’m not making that up) wrote a post explaining ‘The racist history of fatphobia and weight stigma.’” To wit:
Fatphobia and weight stigma are insidious forces in our society. They are responsible for many harmful effects on those living in larger bodies, especially Black people, who are disproportionately discriminated against. Western medicine wants you to believe that weight is an accurate predictor of health. But this is a stigmatizing myth — fatphobia and racism are closely connected. The truth is, systemic racism and weight discrimination can lead to far more health risks than weight, and even body mass index (BMI), which has its own problematic and racist origins.
So with the attitude quickly becoming hear no fat, see no fat, speak no fat, maybe soon someone will write the story, “The Emperor’s New Belly.”
The more serious issue is that, as Widburg astutely points out, the OMB regulations are an example of how destabilization (designed to pave the way for revolution) is manifesting itself in all areas of our society.
To end on a comedic note, however, below is a three-minute video of clean comedian James Gregory commenting on obesity as a “disease.” Don’t worry, the bit contains no microaggressions — just a grossly obese macroaggression.
