IF accurate then as all have said the situation was indeed handled very badly. However, if the passenger had purchased one or two bottles of water from an airside shop and asked for more once airborne the situation would not have existed.........just a thought along the lines of people taking some responsibility for themselves
The first sentence of this post shows comprehension and compassion. However, perhaps the passenger did not have time to make a purchase airside before embarking. He took the precaution of carrying a letter from the hospital thereby IMO demonstrating a reasonable degree of responsibility. His only crime was to ask that a supply of water be available during the flight and explain the reason for this (hence the doctor's letter).
Back to the newspaper story: If this gentleman's arrangements really had been "cleared" by BA reservations and recognised medical authorities and this information was not passed on to the operating crew then BA deserve some stick. However if the first the crew knew was him saying he'd need extra water throughout the flight because he a "medical problem" then yes, I can understand him being offloaded.
This passenger did not have a "medical problem" he simply needed to avoid dehydration, something to be recommended for anyone undertaking a long haul flight.
Common sense...............not so common