24-stone dental patient claims he has been refused treatment
A patient who weighs 24 stone has claimed that he has been refused dental treatment. Andy Chaplin, from Dudley, was advised to lose weight after tipping the scales at 34 stone, but even after losing 10 stone, he has been unable to have dental treatment. Dentists in Birmingham have suggested that he is too heavy for the dental chair, and urged him to lose another 3 stone and get down to 21 stone.
The 36-year-old was initially told that he was too heavy for the dental chair when he weighed 34 stone. He took time out from his job as a recruitment consultant and lost 10 stone, but now he claims that he has still been refused treatment. Andy said that all he wants is a scale and polish, but he can’t go private because the surgeries don’t have chairs to hold him, and he has been refused treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Andy, who is 6ft 6, explained that being a “big guy” makes it very difficult to get down to a weight of 21 stone, and he admits that he finds it frustrating that nobody will treat him, even though he’s lost 10 stone. He has a healthy diet and he works out with a personal trainer, but he believes that it won’t be possible for him to lose another 3 stone.
Andy suffers from haemophilia, and he had been informed that he could be treated at the hospital due to his condition. However, he claims that he was unable to get a consultation, and he has now lodged a complaint against the hospital. A spokesperson for the hospital said that they were unable to comment on the case, as an investigation is currently underway.
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