Thats right, I saw this on Neil Cavuto today and couldn't believe it. I googled it to read more. This is just disgusting. By the way, the government is giving her a bigger place and now she is suing the government because they didn't give her a bigger free apartment sooner.
http://www.thesakeofargument.com/archives/000302.html
November 18, 2003
Live by the Donut, Die by the Donut
REPORT:
A large Cleveland woman is disgruntled.
The city's public housing agency is trying to resolve a lengthy dispute by accommodating the needs of a 772-pound tenant immobilized by her weight.
Carmen Bowen, 44, has been involved in a two-year dispute with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority over how much work must be done to help her move around her apartment.
The agency is about to provide her with a handicapped-accessible apartment with extra space to allow an oversized wheelchair to turn. Bowen lives with her 19-year-old son and a caregiver.
Still, Bowen filed a discrimination complaint, saying the agency took too long. Housing officials responded that the agency went well beyond what federal disability law requires at a cost of about $15,000.
"Her special condition requires special equipment," acting Executive Director George Phillips said last week.
The modifications include removing doors and walls, installing an automatic door operator and panic device, demolishing the existing bathroom and installing a special shower, and putting in a sidewalk to the front door. Bowen could move in next month.
In her current apartment, Bowen can't move from a medical bed in the middle of her living room.
In August, 22 firefighters and emergency medical technicians worked for 2 1/2 hours to move Bowen from her apartment so she could have dental work. Emergency crews had to help her back when she returned. The authority widened the door in October.
FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT:
My views of the morbidly obese are well documented and well assailed.
This report fails to indicate the precise reason why she’s so obese. Odds are that she’s this obese due to consuming more calories than she expends.
Either way, as Lee at Right-Thinking points out, it would be cheaper to have obesity surgery for this woman than to make all these changes to her public housing. For slightly more than the $15,000 she could have bariatric surgery and hopefully be on her way to self-sufficiency.
Pragmatically, though, it may be cheaper long term to renovate her public housing unit and leave her to her own devices – she can’t live too much longer at 772-pounds.
But of course, compassionately, I would love to see her live a long a happy life.