Abstract
The failure of current treatment approaches to severe obesity has resulted in significant investment by the scientific community to develop new treatments for this challenging health problem. Any new treatment must be scientifically tested to determine its potential role and any innovation in healthcare can be associated with moral and ethical challenges. This reflective piece is based on the experience of running the first randomised controlled trial to compare laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding to an intensive behaviourally-based intervention in adolescents with severe obesity during which many moral and ethical concerns were articulated by other health professionals. Five different types of responses are described (preventers, druggies, deferrers, slippery slopers and simplifiers). While raising important concerns, these responses also deflect attention from the urgent need to develop and test new treatments for the most severely obese adolescents. The stigma of obesity is posed as an underlying yet unaddressed issue.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.