Obese man on hunger strike for surgery
N.Z. government refuses to pay for operation
An obese New Zealand man has found a unique response to his government’s refusal to pay for his weight-loss surgery: he is on a hunger strike.
Jason Patterson, a former surfing instructor, needs a hernia operation, but cannot have one until he loses 50 kilograms. He currently weighs 130 kg.
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has agreed to fund his hernia operation, but will not pay for his gastric bypass surgery.
“It’s hopefully going to help me being on a hunger strike to lose weight, because I need to lose weight before I have my hernia operation,” Patterson said to New Zealand’s 3 News.
A spokesman for the ACC says that it cannot comment on specific cases due to confidentiality, but explained the organization covers all injuries as a result of an accident in New Zealand, adding, “we don’t regard putting on weight to be accidental.”
In video diaries uploaded to YouTube, Patterson says he does not overeat, and finds it degrading that people think food is the cause of his weight gain. He says he gained weight after being put on medications.
The man says he’s starving himself to show how serious he is about getting the weight-loss surgery he says he needs. In an online video, he says his experience with the ACC has been “totally disgusting.”
Dr. David Lau, a professor of medicine and biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Calgary, says although some medications can increase appetite that leads to weight gain, it is not common for someone to become obese strictly from a drug.
“Most of the time this kind of weight gain is associated with changes in eating behaviour as well as activity,” Lau said.
Patterson has set up a fundraising page online to help raise money for the bypass surgery he says will cost NZ$20,000 ($17,000). Since being denied funding, he’s also tried to raise money through selling his possessions and busking.
According to 3 News, the ACC says it has provided Patterson with several options to help lose weight, such as access to a dietitian and psychologist to support his well-being, but cannot accept his “obesity” claims for admission to fund his bypass surgery.
On day two of his hunger strike, Patterson expressed his frustration in a video diary saying, “The ACC can’t say ‘Well we’re not going to do this, but we’ll do that,’ and leave me $14,000 short with an operation I actually need.”
This is not his first disagreement with the ACC. In 2013 Patterson and another man filed a civil case against private ACC investigators after their homes were searched in 2006. The ACC was investigating Patterson to see if he was working while receiving benefits.
The judge ruled the two men had their rights breached during the search.
Tuesday is the sixth day of Patterson’s hunger strike. He says he will protest in Rotorua, on New Zealand’s North Island, until Thursday. On Friday, he will move to Wellington to protest outside the ACC’s head office.