New Weight Limit Trend Headed Your Way

It usually begins on the West Coast, jumps to the East Coast and then lastly hits the Midwest.  A new trend seems to be popping up and it's not good for people weighing over 300 pounds.  

First photo was taken in our local hospital waiting area and the second at a lab for blood work.  I asked staff what do I do with my husband if he is over 300?  Does this mean people over 300 are not welcome?  Usually people over 300 can't stand long, do they have to stand?  The staff seemed to be clueless. 

WTH?  

Sounds more like WTF!

I think in general hospitals can't discriminate against obese people & they have to make accommodations to people of size. Those stickers just looks like a way for them to get out of lawsuits if someone breaks one of their chairs & gets hurt.

I agree. This is probably from the lawyers. They'll never try to keep people from sitting in them.

I sat in a lot of crappier looking chairs than that when I was a lot bigger.

Ok the labels are more of a safety warning (CYA for risk management) since I have heard recently that many purchasers who think they are doing "good" by getting wider chairs for waiting rooms actually FAIL to pay attention to the weight capacity of the chairs. But yes, if these are the only chairs available in the area then they do need to provide better accommodations for their patients. Explain to me how we fight the war on obesity when patients affected by obesity do not have adequate access to care? Chairs, scales, BP cuffs, exam tables? Then I'm told I can't expect everyone to accommodate my weight size??? Excuse me? 

Being in CA for only a short while, I find anything that is expensive, pain in the butt or just plain stupid has been the results of a law suit out here.  Seriously, it's nuts!  So I bet you all the dollars the hospital had, someone sat in the chair the chair broke and they sued.  This is a hospital and a lab in the hospital, this is not going to float folks.  The look on their faces when I was taking photos was priceless.  

If they think this will protect them it won't. You can barely see the sticker. Hello the staff was not aware of them. So when someone sits in it and they are over 300 and it breaks, this is not going to hold up in court.  I can hear it now, they should have had it clearly posted, yada yada..

I am expecting a call from someone higher up on the issue. I will keep you posted!

Plus, if they have no other chairs available, they should realize people over 300 lbs will sit in those chairs.  Those tiny stickers will not help in the event of a lawsuit at all.

I totally agree with you Kelly. 

Seeing all the comments about how health care facilities should be able to accommodate large patients makes me want to point out that this is an issue people with disabilities have dealt with for a long time and continue to deal with.  Do you know how common it is for someone in a wheelchair to find they can't even get their chair through the door of an exam room? 

I know someone that uses a wheelchair that went to the doctor and needed to give a urine sample.  But the bathroom wasn't accessible.  His wheelchair couldn't get in the bathroom.  In order to give the urine sample, he had to leave the doctor's office, go down the street to find another bathroom that was accessible, pee there, then carry the cup of pee back to his doctor's office.

Most doctor's offices do not have scales that can weigh someone that cannot stand.  Often in doctor's offices and even hospitals, like if you go in for an outpatient x-ray or something, there are no staff available that can or will help you get out of a wheelchair and onto an exam table.  My rheumatologist asked me to please not bring my service dog to appointments with her because she is afraid of dogs.  People with disabilities face this sort of discrimination and lack of access to health care services all the time.

OMG, I didn't even notice the sticker, I'm lookn and lookn. I would guess the hospital is using it to inform people, have never seen that before. ugh

I know, if they are trying to protect themselves they need to post it where everyone can see it. I was sitting in the waiting room with my husband and it was so small I was wondering what it was. As I got closer I realized what it said and asked.  I just had to take a photo....