Patient lifestyles cited as reason to deny services in Britain

Britain’s National Health Service is denying access to various services provided by the state health care system because of patient lifestyles.  Smokers and those who are considered overweight are denied some operations or procedures in about a quarter of the country’s health care regions.  Physicians and others are critical of the decisions because they say they are being made for fiscal, not clinical reasons.  Health care administrators claim that they are medically justified. [Daily Mail]