Docs balk at deciding how fat is too fat for one seat

[Bulldog]

Canada's doctors don't want to be the ones deciding whether obese people are entitled to a free extra airline seat.

Dr. Robert Ouellet, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said physicians are "disappointed" with a new policy from Air Canada and WestJet that obese or disabled passengers who need an extra seat must have a doctor's note.

"The question of whether or not someone can fit into a specific seat on a specific plane is not a medical question," Ouellet said in a statement.

The CMA has long complained doctors spend too much time on paperwork. For instance, the group is currently negotiating with the Canada Pension Plan to simplify its medical claim forms and increase the fees for completing them.

Requiring a doctor's note to gain an extra seat on a flight "shows a disregard for the issue of scarce medical resources," the group says.

The airlines' decision to require doctors' notes follows a court ruling that carriers make a free extra seat available for the obese or disabled who require it. Airlines have until today to start doing so.

Ouellet said airlines "should not try and pass the buck to physicians over what is essentially a business matter."

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer did not respond directly to the doctors' concern, but said in an e-mail that the airline had developed its policy "to comply with the Canadian Transportation Agency ruling." An Air Canada spokesman could not be reached.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/01/10/7978671-sun.html

[Bulldog]

OTTAWA — The Canadian Medical Association says the issue of whether an overweight airline passenger can fit comfortably in a single seat is not a medical question.

And the organization representing doctors across the country says it's "disappointed" that Canada's two major airlines have instituted a policy requiring doctors to provide a note to obese and disabled people in order for them to receive special privileges on planes.

The doctors say the policy shows "a disregard for the use of scarce medical resources."

The association's president, Dr. Robert Ouellet, says Westjet and Air Canada did not consult the CMA before instituting the policy.

He says many physicians are already inundated with third-party forms.

The airlines announced their new policy Jan. 8 after the Canadian Transportation Agency ordered them to make extra seating freely available to disabled and obese travellers who require it.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld that order in November, and airlines had until Jan. 10, 2009, to comply by introducing a "one passenger, one fare" policy.

The new policy applies to passengers who require an attendant to travel with them because of a disability, and to obese or overweight passengers who cannot fit in a single seat.

Air Canada announced this week that these passengers will require "a doctor's certificate of their disability or need for an attendant when travelling, as well as medical approval for travel."

WestJet announced a similar requirement and added: "All medical forms submitted by a guest's physician will be reviewed by WestJet's medical desk nurse. The nurse may contact the guest's physician for more information prior to making a final decision to approve or decline a request."

Said Ouellet: "The question of whether or not someone can fit into a specific seat on a specific plane is not a medical decision."

"In as much as the CMA supports the rights of these travellers, we feel that airlines should not try and pass the buck to physicians over what is essentially a business matter."

The medical association said it plans to write the airlines asking that they "immediately revisit their requirements for doctor's certificates."

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