pwilkins

That part isn't true. Dr. Kuri had me go to a cardiologist, and also lab tests and other tests with other doctors. I had to be cleared before he would perform the surgery. He warned me that if I didn't follow the pre-op diet that he would close me up again and we'd try at another date/time. We had to be cleared before he would perform the surgery, and told us that the important thing is that we were healthy and followed the rules. He also will not band a smoker because smokers have higher rates of complications and heal slower than non-smokers. Also, Dr. Kuri uses Allergan's bands that are still being produced by Allergan, and many doctors are going back to using the 4cc bands again since there are more issues with the AP bands. These bands are not 'unsafe' or 'discontinued' - Dr. Kuri does care about his patients, and the 1 in 1000 statistics is for lapband surgeons, not just general surgery. It's great that your doc doesn't have any fatalities, but they do happen even to the best doctors. Good luck to everyone - bariatric surgery of any kind is a very personal decision, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have no second thoughts about going to Mexico again with Dr. Kuri.

I can't say I had a single negative thing happen and I used Dr. Kuri - You say that he was accused of deaths, but even the best doctors in the field have about a 1 in 1000 death rate for band surgery, nothing to do with the quality or experience of the doctor, but there's always a risk with any kind of anesthesia, or with bleeding or abnormal conditions that occur with your physiology once you're opened up. Every single surgery, from laparascopic gall bladder removal to a gastric bypass, carries a risk. The death that occured were unfortunate - and I believe Dr. Kuri's mortality rate is lower than the U.S. national average for lap band surgeons, and they do NOT make him unreputable. You'd have to say every doctor in the U.S. is unreputable because they had a death or two occur during surgery. I've never had anything than the best response from Dr. Kuri - when I was getting my gall bladder removed, and when I had other issues, my doctor here in the states and myself both contacted Dr. Kuri's office and he personally took the calls, no matter what time they were placed. He's always personally taken an interest in his patients, and has a wonderful success rate - as I said, even better than the U.S. doctors' average. Please do your research, which is the best advice anyone can take. Banding also isn't for everyone - if you have a problem with following rules, and eating ice cream, shakes, chocolate, etc. then the lap band won't be a good option for you. The band will not stop chocolate and shakes and soda pop from going down. It keeps solid foods from passing through as quickly, therefore you eat less. If you have problems with food, work those out before you have any procedure, because getting thin will not solve all your life problems. They'll still be there.. If you eat emotionally, try getting exercise & drink Water instead of picking up a fork. Just do your research, and don't go saying a doctor isn't reputable just because they had a couple of deaths occur. EVERY surgeon does, bariatric surgeons particularly.