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Good Day All, Long story short, I'd like to know if anyone has heard of a class action lawsuit that has been started? If you haven't but would like to be, I would like to start a petition of sorts so I can get a ballpark of numbers to give the lawyer. There is a good lawyer in London Ontario that I have contacted previously, but unless there are numbers, there's no point. In Oct 2013 I had the band placed in a rush of fury by their lies and pressure tactics. After 6 months of not being able to drink water without it coming back up, they finally agreed to remove it. Shortly after the removal I found out I was pregnant (not expected I could even get pregnant because of the malnutrition), but because I couldn't keep any nutrients down before and after removal, the baby never stood a chance. I had to have a emergency dilation of my esophagus twice and still can't have thick liquids without it coming up. I also just applied to have correct weight loss surgery, and was denied because they won't touch patients that have previously had a band. Now I've reached my limit and reading all of these other horror stories, something needs to be done. Signing on the dotted line in this case is bullshit. The clinic was shut down it was so bad, so clearly these signatures should be null and void too. I am not asking for extensive information, but if you would like to see how far this could go, please just leave your name and year Slimband screwed you over./ Much thanks, and power to us people ;) Holly M - Waterloo Ontario

Hi! I also had the Slimband procedure done. Paid $13K and 13 years later, haven’t lost any weight. I gained pain, IBS issues, severe gas pain in my abdominal and shoulder and vomit continuously. I am definitely interested in a class action lawsuit if there will be one. Thank you.

I didn't hear about Smart Shape until after my surgery either. I would still have gone with Slimband though as I can get fills locally. I would also be interested in comparing aftercare. Slimband called twice and are pretty quick at getting back to my emails, though I haven't needed much from them The fill nurse in Ottawa is wonderful! I loved her.

No, Dr. Yau, Dr. Cyriac or Dr. Hazrati are the surgeons at the Slimband clinic. I believe Dr. Coburn is with Smart Shape.

Thanks for the support everyone! Had a consultation with Slimband yesterday and another consultation with SWLC today. I am applying for financing on Monday and then I am booking my surgery appt with Dr. Cobourn at the SWLC in Mississauga, Ontario. Can wait to get this done! Lynn

So I went in for my 5th fill. I got .75cc fill. Felt fine but by that night couldn't even swallow my own spit. I went in the next day and had a .25cc defill. Felt fine and then a few days later the band tightened again had to go back in and have another .25cc defill. Now I am at 8.75cc in a 10cc band and feel great. I think I am at my sweet spot for now. Altogether - I am down 55 pounds as of this morning. What a wonderful feeling. Even though being overfilled was very uncomfortable - to get to the spot where I am at is great. I can hardly wait until summer - going to the beach is going to be a totally different experience than in the past. Before people looked at me like I was a beached whale. This summer I am going to feel awesome and totally enjoy the water with my boys. Thank you Slimband - I Love My Band.:thumbup:

Hello, I'm a retired teacher living in rural Ontario. I was first banded in 2002 in Toronto, at Scarborough Grace Hospital by Dr. P. Yau. I received an Inamed lapband. (Inamed was later bought out by Allergan.) Although many had much luck with the Inamed band, some, like me, had disconnection issues -- that it, the connecting tube disconnects from the band itself. I disconnected 4 times in the space of 9 years.....each time my doctor had to re-operate to reconnect me. After my fourth disconnect, my doctor, who now works only for The Slimband Clinic in Toronto, replaced my faulty band with a new Slimband lapband on November 8th, 2011. I have just had my first fill. Before my first disconnect, I lost 76 pounds and managed to barely get below 200 lbs. But with all the disconnections and the waiting times to be re-connected, I gained back 34 lbs of the 76. So I am really excited to be back on my weight loss journey again. I will be in Florida from Jan-mid March...and looking for a fill doctor in the Daytona. area. Thanks. Julie.

Shasta the difference between a slimband and the realize band?

Hi Dis-S... DM me, I would like to talk to you about your options on having it removed. I am sorry that this happened to you! I have had my Slimband for 11 years and I am trying to offer my support to those that have been feeling abandoned now that the company is no longer doing the surgeries and do not have the support that they once had or promised.

Thanks for your responses! Hmmm, the Pacific NW and Vancouver are both much closer to me (I don't really want to go to Toronto). However, although the price you mentioned, morelgirl, sounds quite cheap, I do know that Slimband has a special on, that the Alberta government gives a small rebate, and that I can claim it on my taxes and get a good chunk back. So I guess it would work out to be a similar price. Running_scared, I imagine you researched SWLC and Slimband, then, and decided on the SWLC? What made you go that route? As I said, I'd rather go to Vancouver or somewhere closer, but the Slimband program sounds pretty good to me. I just don't want to pay for it! lol

Hi, I live in Ontario, Niagara Region, where are you located? I'm being banded on June 28 in Toronto (Slimband). I am so ready!! Especially after this two week pre-op... Going to Orlando this weekend so that will get my mind of this diet, and the surgery. Itsn't it strange how so many of us are excited about this surgery and starting their new lives with the BAND! Good luck with your consult tomorrow. Keep in touch.

Hi There, Were you banded at TLBC and being hassled by Slimband and being refused care? I am in Toronto and would be interested in joining a support group.

I am interested in a class action lawsuit as well, banded April 2014 and had it removed October 2016 (by a different Dr in a different province) due to complications that Slimband didn't want to help with. The kicker is... I am still paying the weekly payment for something I dont have and something that never worked properly in the first place

Dr Yau was my surgeon 3 1/2 years ago and the aftercare given by the old TLBC and the new Slimband is like night and day. Today the staff are trying very hard (and succeeding) with their advice and support. They are now using webcam sessions as a way to supporting long distance paitients. I find them very helpful. I would recommend Slimband as a choice.

I'm in the process of booking my surgery with Slimband right now. My surgery is scheduled for April 16th and I'm really looking forward to it. So far my experience has been a bit of a roller coaster. It went like this: 1. First point of contact was with someone called Tara (I think). I'm not entirely sure what her name was but I'll tell you now she was super pushy and VERY rude to me. I was debating between having my surgery in the UK (where I'd been living for the last 7 years) and having it done in Canada. She was so rude to me about choosing some 'foreign' doctor to do my surgery and tried to scare me into believing that NO canadian doctor would take care of me after I'd had surgery abroad. I explained to her that I already had a doctor lined up as a family member had their lap band done abroad in January. She still didn't believe me. She told me she'd never heard of any doctor willing to clean up some other doctor's mess. VERY rude, very pushy and a complete liar. I was not impressed. BUT I wanted to know the cost and she wouldn't tell me so I asked to speak to a 'consultant'. 2. I spoke with a consultant called Niki. She's actually the woman from the TV ads and on the website. She was completely different to my first point of contact. She was pleasant and listened to all of my questions and answered them to my satisfaction. She explained that even though I'm based in Ottawa, they have 'outreach programs' and a doctor in Ottawa that does fills/defills for Slimband. Well, it seems it's the same doctor I was going to go to when I was thinking of getting my surgery in the UK. Anyway, Niki gave me plenty of information and helped me through the application process. That being said, when there was a delay with a fax I should have sent the sales person pressure came out of Niki as well. She pulled out classic sales tactics 101 and tried threats, fear, implying she did me a favour, and strict deadlines. I ended up sending her the information she was after and literally haven't heard from her since. 3. Now, the thing that's weird for me is that throughout Niki's sales pitch I was told that Dr Patrick Yau had completed over 3500 surgeries and that the rest of the staff had completed nearly another 1500. I made it clear from the start that if I was going to go with Slimband I wanted Dr Yau. I've tried on multiple occasions to get confirmation that Dr Yau will be performing my surgery and even suggested that if he's not available I'm prepared to wait and all communication has gone cold. No response. 4. I received the 'services agreement' and in the agreement it says that any member of their surgical staff that they deem suitable may perform my surgery. I wasn't told THAT during the whole sales pitch! 5. The services agreement also outlines an 'explanatory binder' and a 'surgery DVD' that I should receive but I haven't yet and when I've asked about it twice none of the contacts have provided an explanation. 6. I tried to join Myslimband.com and post questions and comments but for some reason I can't post anywhere. I sent a message to Amy the administrator a couple of days ago and haven't heard anything back. It seems pretty silly to me to have a 'forum' when only SOME people are allowed to be involved in the discussion. So, here I am living in Ottawa awaiting a surgery from a COMPANY I'm not entirely sure I want to work with. All of their staff have told me to email them with questions or concerns and their website promotes their 'support' for their clients but since I've signed the $16,000 away, I haven't really had ANY real answers to my questions. I'm trying to be balanced here so I will say that I've had my blood work done and it has Dr Yau's name on it but I wonder if any other Slimband patients have had his name on their forms and had their surgery done by another doctor. I've also got the pre-op diet information sheet which is easy to understand and follow. I've started today but I've got some questions and since non of the Slimband staff are replying to my emails and I don't have any permissions in the Slimband forum I came here. Not only am I nervous about this life-changing surgery and the $16,000 debt I've just agreed to I'm totally confused because I've got plenty more questions AND I don't even know who my surgeon is going to be. I've found some answers here so this forum has been a pretty big help. Keep looking around and you'll find more answers yourself. I don't mean for this to discourage you or anyone else considering Slimband because when the contact silence finally ends I'm sure I'll end up happier but I guess I just feel a bit trapped now when I should be feeling anticipation and some relief for the life change ahead of me. Good luck!

I'm going to Slimband... I spoke with Kathy, and she was fantastic! Any questions I come up with she answers them pretty fast. I'm glad to see some positive reviews about the actual surgery through slimband, although after reading some of the posts about the inital consult kind of get you thinking. Good Luck to everyone!!!

Hello, I have just joined this forum and find it most informative. I am very happy to see that most of you have had good experiences at the Slimband clinic in Toronto. I am visiting my own GP tomorrow to get his input and then I will hopefully be able to book my own surgery soon afterward. Best of luck to you all and I look forward to sharing my own experiences with you soon.

I am a former Slimband patient would would like to share my story so that I can help others avoid what I went through. At the end of the day, the decision is yours to make but having some honest perspective is important. I had my Slimband surgery on March 30, 2011 and had it removed 5 days later. Biggest mistake and largest regret of my life. I was in constant agony and was nauseous from the moment I woke up from surgery to the point of having the band removed. Additionally, I had to fly back to Toronto to have the band removed as local ER's consider it a cosmetic procedure and they aren't interested in any of the literature that Slimband sends you home with. During the 5 days I had the Slimband, I was unable to keep even Water down and was severely dehydrated. It was an incredibly traumatizing experience and not what I was expecting or was told to expect. To add insult to injury, I am trying to work with Slimband on some kind of refund. I am not looking to get 100% of the $16,000 back or be reimbursed for my $2,000 travel/accommodations costs back to Toronto, but the surgery was just one piece of the total package. I will never have access to all of the support, doctors, require fills or take advantage of any of the items they sell you as part of the package. All of a sudden, the attentive folks that wanted my money will not return my calls or emails. This is not a story of bitterness, this can happen and it can happen to you. I know very well all of the reasons why this surgery seems so appealing. All I am asking is for you to consider if this is really right for you and are you prepared to lose this much money if something goes wrong.

I cannot say anything negative about Slimband as I feel they saved my life and started me on this journey. most companies go bankrupt and reopen under a different name. Mostly because of a law suit.

Are there any class action suits started regarding Slimbands deficient patient care?

Wow, that sounds crazy! It also sounds like what happened at the CIBO CLINIC. I was scheduled for surgery with them and they went bankrupt and closed the doors without giving much notification. Thankfully they did not get any $ from me. Hopefully this is not the case with Slimband. Slimband is just another "banding" company. They don't use the "lap band" trademark.... I'm currently in Pre-op diet for my lap band with SMARTSHAPE my procedure is next Friday! Getting nervous now.... I'm trying my best to stick to the diet and have dropped 8-9 pounds this last week! Hopefully my liver will be in great shape.

Please help need fill in michigan for slimband from Tornoto, having trouble getting fills in Canada even if I pay for it.