Smoker Refused Surgery

Urgent need to overwhelm this article with comments:

Smoking Builder Article

My comments as yet not approved:

I can only agree with these earlier comments. On the surface this seems to be an utter disgrace. Reading between the lines, I suspect that the smoking is not the only issue here. There may be some conflict between John and his medics as he refused surgery when it was advised, and most likely to succeed. He may even have been labelled as a "difficult" patient. This however compounds the issue because obviously none of these factors should be grounds for refusal of treatment. It is very likely that someone involved in the decision is an anti-smoker.

So the surgeons are reluctant to operate as there is only a percentage chance of success. This chance is statistically lowered because John smokes. However, it appears, if the report is taken at face value, that John is prepared to accept the risk. It should be John's choice not the surgeons. They have advised him, he has tried to stop and decided he cannot.