Former world's fattest man to sue health service
Daily Mail
Published Jan 8 2011
A man who once weighed nearly 445 kg, is to launch legal action against the NHS, claiming they failed to help him as his size soared, according to The Daily Mail.
Former postman Paul Mason received life-saving gastric surgery last year binge-eating his way to gargantuan size.
But the 50-year-old, who now weighs a comparatively small 37 stone, said he should have been helped years ago.
Mason, who was eating 20,000 calories a day at his heaviest, claims he sought help from his GP after ballooning to 30 stone.
Instead of receiving a treatment programme to manage his weight, he has complained he was told in 1996: "Ride your bike more."
He also says he was sent to a dietician, rather than the eating disorders specialist he had asked to see, after his weight hit 64 stone.
"I want to set a precedent so no one else has to get to the same size - and to put something back into society," Mason told The Sun.
He has pledged to put any compensation he receives if successful towards helping other obese people lose weight.
An NHS spokesman said of the purported lawsuit: "As we have not heard from Mr Mason, it would be inappropriate to speculate."
Mason's care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 a year and is believed to have topped £1mil over the past 15 years.
At the height of his binge eating, he was consuming 20,000 calories every day - ten times the recommended daily intake for a man.
