Hospitals may ban treatment for smokers and drinkers

SMOKERS, drinkers and the seriously overweight may be denied medical treatment if their lifestyle makes it ineffective, the Government’s treatment watchdog said yesterday.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said that doctors who considered that a particular treatment might not be effective, or cost-effective, because of the lifestyle of the patient, may be entitled to withhold it.

However, doctors should not discriminate on the ground that a disease was self-inflicted. Even those who had brought their problems on themselves deserved treatment.

London Times

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