Physician, Take A Good Look At Yourself In A Mirror...

Over at CiF, another broadside against the awful terrible Tory (actually Labour!) policy that sees those in receipt of state benefits being asked to justify that they are applied correctly:

The assessors do not ask GPs like me to provide any medical information about patients to help them make their decisions, even though someone may have received incapacity benefits for many years.

The GP herself - who remains anonymous, of course - shows no insight as to why this might not be considered such a good idea.

And of course, the comments are filled with those supporting this idea, and hurling invective at ATOS. This one, in particular, sums up so many:

Ahhh, yes, the idea that the medical profession are modern saints, always thinking of the best interests of the patient, shunning the modern capitalistic drive to create easy 'get out of jail free' policies...

Meanwhile...

Who would have thought that the future of weight loss might lie in the hands of the inventor of the Segway? Dean Kamen, creator of the two-wheeled wonder, along with a team from Aspire Bariatrics, of Philadelphia, has applied for a patent for a pump that can suck food and drink straight out of the stomach.

Say what?!

Users are able to stuff their face before draining their stomach by connecting the pump to a valve surgically installed in their abdominal wall. The makers hope to use it to treat the morbidly obese, and to provide an alternative to a gastric bypass.

Oh, good grief! Well, surely no doctor would countenance this?

Initial setbacks – and here's the really yucky part – have occurred because the pump struggles to break up large foods. One patient reported "clogging" and had to avoid eating cauliflower, broccoli, Chinese food, stir fry, snow peas, pretzels, chips and steak. No chips? It will never catch on.

Don't worry. I'm sure it's just a minor setback. And I'm sure no-one from the 'do no harm!' medical profession will prescribe it.

Right..?