DOCS TOLD ME TO TRY HIPPO MRI

[movieguy]

DOCS TOLD ME TO TRY HIPPO MRI

New York Post

By DOUGLAS MONTERO

Weeks after city politicians called for a law to prevent medical discrimination against obese people, a Brooklyn woman says she is practically dying because of the problem.

A bedridden, 407-pound Jennifer Walters says she is suffering excruciating back and leg pain because she can't get proper medical attention.

She says doctors have told her they can't do much because she can't fit into an MRI machine.

Now, she can't even walk, let alone stand.

Some doctors, she says, have even referred her to the Bronx Zoo for an X-ray.

"It's humiliating," Walters said. "I was told if elephants and hippos need MRIs, they have the equipment at the Bronx Zoo. It was like I was an animal."

Alison Power, a zoo spokeswoman, said they get about a half-dozen calls a year, "mostly from physicians," requesting information about MRIs for obese people.

"We don't even have machines like that for our own animals," she said.

One of the physicians Walters claims made such a referral was Dr. Rekha Karumuri of New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn.

"We used to do it, but I don't think we are doing it anymore," said Karumuri, who refused to discuss Walters' case, citing confidentiality concerns.

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