Quit or pay

Is this variety of coercion a byproduct of socialized medicine?

A smoker is facing years of pain after an NHS hospital refused to set his broken ankle unless he gives up cigarettes.

John Nuttall, 57, needs the operation to fix the ankle he broke in three places two years ago and which was not healed by a plaster cast.

Doctors at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have refused to operate to rebuild the ankle because they say Mr Nuttall’s heavy smoking would reduce the chance of a full recovery.

How long before we see this nonsense in the United States? Not long. One of the most frequently used arguments in favor of nannyism has been that of externalities — when the cost of bad behavior is taken on by those not directly involved. Smokers cost all of us money. As do the obese. So it’s no longer about choice. Sure, it’s prudent to go to the doctor … so you must go to the doctor.

This, naturally, leads us to the question: Where does it end? If we’re all responsible for my bad habits, why aren’t we mandating proactive measures like morning exercise and trial mix instead of Starbucks. Clearly, the more we socialize medicine the more we will collectively incur the costs of insalubrious behavior — and the more we’ll be hearing about events like the one above.