Photo: A screenshot of Bild.de

Obese man dies after refusing zoo X-ray

Published: 3 Nov 09 10:43 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091103-22993.html

An obese man is dead after he refused to have an X-ray taken in a machine for zoo animals because he was too large for one at a Hamburg hospital, daily Bild reported on Tuesday.

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Thomas Lessmann, who weighed 230 kilos (507 pounds), had not been feeling well and had lost consciousness several times when he sought medical care at the renowned University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) on September 21, the paper said.

The 51-year-old patient was at the hospital for 10 hours, but because he couldn’t fit into the hospital’s X-ray machine, doctors there recommended that he go to the nearby Hagenbeck animal park, which has a much larger machine.

“It sounded as if they wanted to mock us,” his wife Petra Lessmann told the paper.

His hospital discharge summary reportedly read: “Imaging not feasible here due to body weight, please arrange as an outpatient, for example at Hagenbeck.”

But Lessmann felt too humiliated to go to the zoo and died of unknown causes 13 days later.

“We regret the unclear instruction ‘at Hagenbeck’,” UKE spokesperson Christine Jähn told Bild. “We understand that it’s irritating for patients and relatives when they are referred to veterinary facilities.”

While all patients have a right to medical care, the maximum capacity of most hospital machines is around 200 kilo, Jähn explained.

The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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11:11 November 3, 2009 by sarabyrd
Darwin is rubbing his hands.
11:54 November 3, 2009 by hkypuck
THEN he felt too humiliated?!!! THEN!

Maybe if the guy felt humiliated, say 15 years ago, he might have been motivated to do something about it at that point. "Suddenly" realizing that you have 'a bit of a weight problem' at 230 kg is, apparently, too late. Your alarm should probably go off around 115 kg (275 lbs).

That's a sad situation, but it didn't happen over night.
13:27 November 3, 2009 by Nobody87
"Darwin is rubbing his hands."

Haha, lol.

I find incredible how some feels "insulted" when *they* do not fit in standard measures or roles. That old man had it coming.
14:50 November 3, 2009 by jennieerin73
Why so much contempt?
15:11 November 3, 2009 by mprulez
Its a pity that the man is being blamed all over!

The doctors are also at fault. It has been years since Siemens introduced AXIOM LUMINOUS TF XRAY machine, especially designed for obese people! Why did not the doctors know about where this machine is? perhaps some other hospital had it! Siemens would know!!!

giving up is so easy!

heres the link for the x-ray machine:

http://www.medical.siemens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catTree=12784,12753&catalogId=-1&langId=-1&productId=168440&storeId=10001
19:21 November 3, 2009 by maxbrando
There is so much contempt for this man and his spouse because he and she are contemptible - he for the condition he let himself get into and she for feeling personally offended rather than getting him the treatment he needed. She let him die because HER feelings were hurt. Boo hoo.
20:00 November 3, 2009 by pepsionice
What you end up with....is a nurse or doctor...who could have said this recommendation in a pretty crafted way.....and simply said....'you have something badly wrong, but we don't have the capability, and I'm having the ambulance take to this site.....for an emergency x-ray, period'. The guy might have argued but my comeback would have been 'your life depends on it so shut up and do it'.

German medical personnel....lack a Doctor House-type mentality and the ability to size up a bad situation. This guy had something wrong....and they should have made him realize it.
21:41 November 3, 2009 by Chanaka Lloyd
obesity is NOT something someone can have even if they WANTED! it's a medical condition for the most part.

for all the haters: i think u gotta get in his shoes and feel the situation!

thanks for mprulez for the research!
23:00 November 3, 2009 by aflm
"obesity is NOT something someone can have even if they WANTED! it's a medical condition for the most part."

that's not true, it's only a medical condition if you are lacking certain hormones that indicate your actual hunger level. But then again, who gobbles up their whole refrigerator and later blames it on their hormone-deficiency? We are not pigs, we should be able to stop eating using common sense.

and as for the guy, i feel for him and his wife but who is to blame?
23:11 November 3, 2009 by jmjdk
They were offended? Tisc Tisc. This condition (his obesity) did not occur overnight. If he was so thin skinned about his self inflicted condition he or his wife should have done something about his condition a great deal sooner. To say it is a glandular problem.....Oh pleeeeeease..
06:05 November 4, 2009 by Meringer
Sometimes obesity is caused by the persons own choices, but sometimes it is caused by medical factors. Either factors that cause weight gain or it could be physical disabilities (like being paralyzed or having a disease that prevents exercise or walking). My own father-in-law was a large muscular man that was injured at work and could no longer move about well (he also had a heart problem), unfortunately all this caused weight gain over a period of years. The medical problems caused weight gain,the weight gain in turn caused medical problems, all this led to depression. Vicious circle.
08:38 November 4, 2009 by robinson100
Okay, so it might be embarrassing having to use an x-ray machine designed for animals, but if doing so gives me vague chance of living longer, well, I would swallow my pride and get it done!
09:32 November 4, 2009 by fraufruit
Why would it be embarrassing? Who would know?
09:47 November 4, 2009 by gaijin
Its a pity that the man is being blamed all over!

The doctors are also at fault. It has been years since Siemens introduced AXIOM LUMINOUS TF XRAY machine, especially designed for obese people! Why did not the doctors know about where this machine is? perhaps some other hospital had it! Siemens would know!!!

giving up is so easy!

heres the link for the x-ray machine:

http://www.medical.siemens.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catTree=12784,12753&catalogId=-1&langId=-1&productId=168440&storeId=10001
I do not think that I want my health insurance money spent on a special x-ray machine for extremely overweight people. If he feels too embarrassed to have his x-rays taken at the zoo, that is his problem.
10:06 November 4, 2009 by KDD
Obesity is not a huge problem in germany, so they are unlikely to need the machine or have heard of it. I think Siemens is targeting the US more with the machine.
18:45 November 4, 2009 by Meringer
KDD - I don't know about your experiences, but I have seen many large people in Germany as well as the US. The stereotypical and popular image of the big, round, chubby cheeked German wearing lederhosen and holding a stein, came from somewhere.
08:57 November 5, 2009 by timw
Obesity is not a huge problem in germany, so they are unlikely to need the machine or have heard of it. I think Siemens is targeting the US more with the machine.
I beg to differ :

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2449356,00.html

"rates of obesity and overweight in Germany now match those in the United States."

OK, so this was a couple of years ago, but do you think the Germans have got any slimmer?
09:17 November 5, 2009 by Krieg
In Germany you need to be slightly fat to be considered obese, in the USA only until you are a huge monster then you are an obese person.
09:27 November 5, 2009 by JSD
It's the daily diet in Germany. Carbs Carbs Carbs. Awful, nitrate-laden processed meats. Heavy fat. Excessive beer. It's taken me 3 years to California-ize my partner's eating habits-although, he has always had one of those metabolisms we all hate. But I noticed myself gaining weight when I first arrived--and had to break my daily beer requirement. But I do notice a lot of German men with bellies that stick out. really strange... skinny legs, no shoulders or arms, but big big bellies. But nothing compares to my homeland. Home of the supersized.
09:45 November 5, 2009 by marie-claire
Interesting article describing a similar case in Kansas: Obese patients create new challenges for medicine worldwide
The Kansas City woman was greatly offended, she said, when a hospital MRI tech suggested she use a machine at a zoo. In fact, for reasons ranging from professional ethics to legal liability, it?s unlikely that any zoo would accept a human patient for MRI scanning.
09:48 November 5, 2009 by clickety6
I do not think that I want my health insurance money spent on a special x-ray machine for extremely overweight people. If he feels too embarrassed to have his x-rays taken at the zoo, that is his problem.
Cool! I didn't know we could choose like that!

In that case I don't want my health insurance money spent on treatment for any smoking related diseases - they should know that they might get cancer or lung disease or whatever - that's their problem - or for alcohol related diseases - it was their fault they smoked - or skiing accidents - nobody made them ski - or any sports-related injury at all - they don't have to do sports after all - or...
10:26 November 5, 2009 by mprulez
"I do not think that I want my health insurance money spent on a special x-ray machine for extremely overweight people. If he feels too embarrassed to have his x-rays taken at the zoo, that is his problem.

"

The machine is for everyone. The only difference is that it can bear heavy weights.

For those people here who say that he should not have been embarassed: situational context is different from past behavior.
14:16 November 5, 2009 by seth17
That list could go on and on if we get to pick and choose. I don't want to pay for people who get STDs, no payment for AIDS, or auto accidents when they caused it, heck any accident a person causes, hey how about kids that suck there thumbs and pick up germs at preschool why pay for that?

Alot of money goes to make people better after they have made poor decisions with their lives. It's probably good we don't get to choose.

On another note, I have a man in my family who is stick thin, looks great but has had 3 open heart surgeries all because he eats like crap and stuffs his arteries until he has a HA. Then I had an obese grandma who lived to age 96 with minimal medical care. So you can't always tell by looking....
16:33 November 6, 2009 by William Thirteen
i think pepsionice is on target - sounds like typical german customer service. the medical personnel should have made it clearer that he urgently needed to have the x-ray - and they probably should have brought him over there themselves.

as written in the article, the referral seemed to just be making an off color joke.
23:46 November 8, 2009 by gaijin
That list could go on and on if we get to pick and choose. I don't want to pay for people who get STDs, no payment for AIDS, or auto accidents when they caused it, heck any accident a person causes, hey how about kids that suck there thumbs and pick up germs at preschool why pay for that?
I think you misunderstood me there. My point was that if there IS a suitable X-ray machine (in the zoo), it does not make sense to spend a huge amount of health insurance money (which is badly needed for other things) on a special X-ray machine for extremely obese people to be installed at the hospital, just to save a handful of guys like him the embarrassment of having to go to the zoo.
23:54 November 8, 2009 by marie-claire
What's interesting is that in the American article I posted it was mentioned that it was considered unethical to use veterinarian equipment for humans. In Germany however there seems to be no problem with that.
10:22 November 9, 2009 by CopyWriter
I worked at a hospital in NY and we occasionally weighed obese patients on a scale in the basement made for laundry carts. One patient arrived at the laundry room unannounced and had to wait in the hall while the laundry room was emptied to make room for her. I said something along the lines of, ?we?ll get you in and out as quickly as we can? because I thought she might be embarrassed.

She picked up on my concerns about her embarrassment right away and told me, ?This is pretty cool; they usually send me to the dump!? She normally gets weighed on the same scale that they weigh dump trucks on.
10:36 November 9, 2009 by marie-claire
I think it is difficult for someone who is vulnerable due to an illness to face these kind of humiliations. I feel sorry for the man who died and for his wife.
13:06 November 10, 2009 by Vargaz
"In a protective action the board of medical reviewers at the Hagenbeck facility, led by Dr. L. E Phant, voted unanimously to decline letting a 500 pound man onto the premises in fear that he would eat the staff. Many obese humans, commonaly known as fat slobs known for their lack of restraint and penchant for giant wursts of all kinds, request using the machinery at Hagenbeck because they can't fit into the machines at regular human hospitals. The only dissenter was the shapely Dr. W. Albust, a well known blubberette specialist. The staff have decided to implement a new rapid weight reduction plan by simply rolling obesely plump candidates into the hungry lions yard" May he RIP.
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