Bom Chan

Hello everybody, I am Bom Chan, head of obesity solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER (www.totalobesitysolutions.com) here in the Philippines. I made a similar post under "General Discussion" of lapbandtalk last February 28, 2011. You may wish to read about that topic (What everyone needs to know about the term"LAP-BAND") but I will be repeating a few of the things I have previously written. Let's start from the beginning, the term "bariatrics" is derived from the Greek work "baros" which means "pressure". Bariatric surgery means "weight loss surgery" because obesity or excess weight puts a lot of pressure on an individual; pressure on his back, his knees, his health, and his self-esteem. There are different forms of bariatric surgeries but the gold-standard of bariatric surgery is the LAP-BAND surgery. On the other hand, the BIB System(BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon System) is a non-surgical (endoscopic gastroplasty or placing of an intragastric balloon in the stomach through the mouth) bariatric procedure. LAP-BAND surgeries in the Philippines are presently being performed by 2 (TWO) bariatric surgeons in 3 (THREE) centers of excellence in Metro Manila, namely Dr. Edward Oliveros of 1.) St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City and 2.) St. Luke's Global City and Dr. Ferdinand Samonte of 3.) Delos Santos (DLS-STI) Medical Center in Quezon City. LAP-BAND surgeries are NOT performed in aesthetic centers in the Philippines as one may think from doing internet searches. LAP-BAND surgeries are also NOT being performed in Metro Luzon by other surgeons in other medical centers not listed above. The term "LAP-BAND" and "LAGB" are proprietary and these are registered trademarks/intellectual properties of Allergan Incorporated of Santa Monica, California, USA. "LAGB" means "LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding" as opposed to other brands of adjustable gastric banding. "LAGB" does not mean "laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding." I wish to stress the importance of terminolgies here because it is just too convenient to say "LAGB" is a better option than other invasive forms of bariatric surgeies, use the data of the LAP-BAND to support the claims of safety and effectiveness, and then use another brand of gastric banding because the surgeon "thought" that the term "LAGB" is used to describe a surgical procedure. FYI, the generic term for the surgical procedure is "Gastric Banding" not "LAGB". When a patient decides to have a Lap-Band surgery, he should ask the surgeon the following things: 1.) Is the surgeon using a LAP-BAND manufactured by Allergan, Incorporated? 2.) Can the patient have a look at the box prior to surgery? The LAP-BAND comes in a box sealed in plastic and comes with the following markings on the box: a.) ALLERGAN b.) LAP-BAND AP System Large REF.: B-20265 or LAP-BAND AP System Small REF.: B-20260 c.) SN (or the Serial Number) 3.) Can the patient keep the opened box AFTER the surgery. (This is pushing it a little bit, but who knows?) When a person says that all bands are the same, that sounds to me very much like all watches tell the same time. The LAP-BAND is the ONLY gastric banding that possesses all of the following: a.) USFDA approved since 2001 b.) More than 600,000 procedures performed worldwide c.) Supported by more than 1,600 scientific papers Thanks for reading. Warm regards, Bom Chan

Hello everybody, I hope I am allowed within forum rules to take this opportunity to introduce myself and what I do, as my position tells a lot about the veracity and importance of the information that I would like to share. I am Bom Chan and I am the Head of Obesity Solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER (Kosher and after I exhausted all means by having asked all our contact persons in Allergan Health and nobody seemed to have the information, I decided to post a question in lapbandtalk and I was very happy and thankful to get a lot of replies from the Jewish community in the States. The basic thing that everyone needs to know about the word "LAP-BAND" is that Lap-Band is a registered trademark of Allergan Health (formerly INAMED Health), which is a division of Allergan Incorporated. The Lap-Band comes in the following sizes/style namely 9.75cm, 10cm, 11cm, VG, APS and APL. In the Philippines, we use the APS and APL. Allergan is a global company that manufactures Botox and products for ophthalmology, facial aesthetics, breast augmentation and reconstruction. Inamed Corporation was acquired by Allergan Incorporated a couple of years ago. Why is the Lap-Band considered superior to other adjustable gastric bandings? The reason for this are: it was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2001 and was named as "One of the Significant Device Breakthroughs" by the FDA Office of Device Evaluation. To date, more than 600,000 Lap-Band procedures were performed and the Lap-Band is supported by more than 1,600 scientific studies. In the scientific studies published in medical journals, the term "LAGB" is used to refer to the Lap-Band® Adjustable Gastric Banding as different from other bands like the SAGB which refers to the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Banding. In many parts of the world, there exist unethical medical practitioners who intentionally deceive their patients by referring to LAGB as "laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding". They sometimes use the data of the Lap-Band or what they like to call "LAGB" as a safer alternative to other bariatric procedures like the gastric bypass. They even sometimes use Lap-Band brochures to entice patients to undergo the procedure. When the patient is convinced that LAGB is the way to go, they undergo surgery and the unscrupulous bariatric surgeon places a different brand of gastric banding. Over the past years, there were a number of international patients who tried to contact me to get information on doctors in the Philippines who could perform their "fills". According to them they need their "Lap-Band" to be adjusted. When our bariatric surgeon, Dr. Edward Oliveros, tried to view the orientation of the access port by fluoroscope, he was astonished to see that there were 3 patients who had a different kind of gastric band access port. After the fills, he asked the patients whether they were sure that they had the "Lap-Band" as in the original "LAP-BAND SYSTEM", sadly, they said "yes". Those 3 patients had fallen victim to unscrupulous doctors who use the word "lapband" or "lapbanding" as generic terms, while the correct generic term for such a procedure is either "gastric banding" or "adjustable gastric banding". This is the reason why we get some complaints from foreign patients telling us that how come the price of Lap-Band surgery in the Philippines is not as low as in other countries. Sometimes I just reply by saying that I do not have any idea how a Lap-Band surgery can go so low in a certain country when 50% of their published price is already the cost of the Lap-Band device. The big question is: How about the professional fees of the surgeon, his assistant, the anaesthesiologist, the cost of anaesthesia, the operating room fee, the private room where the patient stays after the procedure and other charges? Don't all of these count in the package price? I believe that honesty should be the Number 1 with any medical practitioner. To tell the truth, to be transparent as to say not only what the patients like to hear but also the honest facts. Like in many countries except for the United States, the BIB (BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon) System or what they call the Orbera System in Australia has been quite a popular alternative to weight loss because of its non-surgical nature involving placement of a saline-filled balloon in the stomach endoscopically for six months to reduce hunger. In some parts of the world, unethical individuals try to deceive the public by calling an intragastric balloon of a Brazilian company the "Brazilian intragastric balloon" or "also a bib" to piggyback on the popularity of the BIB System. On an ending note to all patients, believe that it is your right to ask questions and to get polite answers from your bariatic surgeons because at the end of the day, it is your health, your financial resources, and your happiness that matters. You are the patient and we should all be serving you. Wishing you all the best of health. Thank you for reading. Warm regards, Bom

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate this very much. Warm regards, Bom:)

Hello everyone, I wish to thank all of you for sharing your ideas and opinions. I appreciate this very much. This has certainly been very informative and I will share your comments with our Jewish patient when I see him soon. Kind regards, Bom

Hello folks, I am Bom Chan, Head of Obesity Solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER in the Philippines. We had a Jewish patient who was asking whether the Lap-Band was Kosher or not. I could not find the answer from sites like Rabbi.com. I would appreciate it very much if anyone could provide me some answers. Thank you in advance. Kind regards, Bom

Hello Jacqui, I have to agree with a lot of the things you wrote. You're correct, basically the Filipino doctors cater to a lot of patients from Guam, Saipan, and other neighboring Asian countries. They do have patients coming from Europe and Australia. For patients in the U.S., Mexico, of course, is just a drive away. I would suppose that the Philippines has a niche market such that it caters to some patients who come to the Philippines for a vacation to visit relatives or probably those who are curious about the country. All the best, Bom

Happy New Year to all!!! Just taking a little time to help provide some information to those who are interested in having the LAP-BAND surgery performed overseas, like in the Philippines. Filipino LAP-BAND surgeons are trained by INAMED surgeons like Prof. Paul O'Brien, Dr. Richard Gilhome and Dr. Chris Hensman of Australia and one of your favorites, Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere. The most popular LAGB in the Philippines is still the LAP-BAND, both the 10cm band and the VG. A few surgeons have tried experimenting with the Swedish band and are now having problems with erosion. The Midband has been out of the market for some time. The BIB System is also gaining popularity in the Philippines. This is the Bio-Enterics Intragastric Balloon, a 15-minute non-surgical procedure which is performed endoscopically and is intended to offer patients weight loss of 30 to 60 pounds in 6 months. We have had very good results with the BIB, 72, 92, and even 102 pounds weight loss in 6 months had been observed. But for sustained permanent weight loss, of course the LAP-BAND is still the way to go.:confused: Kind regards, Bom Chan

Hello everyone, I am Bom Chan of AEMED, INC, the Philippine distributor of INAMED Corporation which manufactures the LapBand. I would like to invite everyone to visit some of our LapBand websites for Asia and the Philippines. Those who are interested in having the surgery performed in Asia or simply learn about the problem of obesity in the region can log on to www.lapbandasia.com. Here you can find a host of Asian countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Hongkong, Malaysia, South Korea, India and China that support LapBand surgery. We also have a LapBand website for the Philippines and that is www.rxpinoy.com/lap-band/index.html. We have a number of experienced LapBand surgeons in the Philippines. One is Dr. Hil Dineros who is the pioneer of bariatric surgery in the Philippines. He was trained under Dr. Frering and had started with the Midband, which is the French band, but has now concentrated on using the LapBand exclusively. Dr. Dineros has performed quite a number of foreign patients from Guam and other countries. We also have Dr. Ferdinand Samonte who is the pioneer of LapBand surgery in the Philippines. Dr. Samonte has trained under Prof. Paul O'Brien, Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere and Dr. Jose Afonso Sallet. We have been getting a lot of inquiries from all over the world, some of the inquiries are about LapBand surgery in the Philippines and others are about doctors in other countries such as Europe and as far as South Africa. We are always more than happy to answer their questions or direct them to the person-in-charge from INAMED Health. FYI, my email address is bom@aemed.ph. Thank you all for reading. Cheers, Bom

I have recently spoken with Dr. Hil Dineros and he told me that interested parties can reach him through email address: hildineros@yahoo.com or his cell phone at (63) 917 822 88 90. Cheers.

Hello and warm greetings from the Philippines. I am Bom Chan, the Philippine distributor of the LapBand. If you still need the contact details of Dr. Dineros, kindly e-mail me at bom@aemed.ph. I will be more than happy to be of service to you.