Imagine being one of the millions of Americans in need of a hip or knee replacement due to osteoarthritis. Severe pain, reduced physical activity, an inability to perform many routine tasks – the symptoms can be truly debilitating.
But if you’re obese or overweight, there’s a good chance that your orthopedic surgeon will refuse to provide care. As one patient told the New York Times of her doctor, “He told me to come back when I had lost 30 pounds.”
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Heidi Prather, DO, is the attending physiatrist and medical director for Lifestyle Medicine Program, Hospital for Special Surgery.
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