The lap band causes many complications. They say its minimally invasive but at least one third of patients need reoperations which can be much more dangerous thant the first operation. Also, a significant amount of patients dont lose much weight. The lap band company allergan is trying to get the band approved for bmi 30 to 35. Thats like everybody in this country. It's absurd. My opinion is try other methods to losing weight than wls. NYU is a dangerous place to get wls. read this department of health report I attached.

DOH-A7.pdf

I would really like to see where you got your facts on the 1/3 need re-operations...now THAT is absurd.

read this too. the lap band was denied approval by fda in 2000. all of a sudden the next year it was approved by the fda without a comitee meeting. Something strange is going on between allergan and the FDA. Read the poor study results. Mean EWL is low. At the bottom it explains the panel denied approval in 2000.

FDA_Lap_Band_REFUSAL_(2000).pdf

I am posting some research articles that show lap bnad dangers. You have to read the whole article to understand them. You cant just read the abstract.

Ref._12_-_Fatal_Complications_of_Bariatric_Surgery.pdf

Ref._5_-_A_10-year_Experience_with_Laparoscopic_Gastric_Banding_for_Morbid_Obesity_High_Long-term_Complication_&_Failure_Rates.pdf

Ref._6_-_American_Society_for_Metabolic_&_Bariatric_Surgery_Position_Stmt._on_Emergency_Care_of_Patients_with_Complications_Related_to_Bariatric_Surgery.pdf

Ref._4_-_Long-term_Results,_Late_Complciations_&_Quality_of_Life_in_a_Series_of_Adjustable_Gastric_Banding.pdf

Well I'm obviously absurd. I got the op with a BMI of 32. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. Staying obese was far more dangerous than getting the band.

If I was you I would be careful about crossing the rd or driving your car. Those are highly dangerous activities.

If you read the research I posted you will understand my concerns. With a BMI of 32 you dont need to lose that much weight to be in the healthy range so the risks are not worth it.

The articles are interesting, but quite old. It really comes down to your surgeon and his experience, along with your mental commitment to stick with the prescribed eating plan, and the support of the staff/follow up. There are dangers involved in any surgery, and those with lap-band are much less then others. It is the least invasive of all bariatric choices and very effective. The weight loss statistics are very much swayed by people who get banded and do not eat properly or don't exercise as directed. My surgeon's office made a huge effort to educate me on the risks, and everything I can and should do to minimize them. Becoming fit when you are obese is no easy task, and this is a wonderful invention to help people lose co-morbidities and regain quality of life.

Your opinion to try other methods to lose weight is certainly YOUR opinion, but if you are like most of us, this was a long and well-thought decision that will change our lives for the better.

Anyway, take a look at all the positives that are here: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/99593-simple-poll-if-you-had-it-to-do-over/page__mode__show

FBS

If patients dont follow the diet or dont lose weight for whatever reason it should still count as a failure of the band. I am sure you wouldnt blame paatients for not losing weight non surgically so how come its their fault once they have the band? Isnt it possible the band is just not a realistic solution for many patients?

read these too. i know its a lot but I truly want to inform people of what the dangers are so they can make a real choice. http://www.occforum.com/index.php?showtopic=9326

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205527/Tragic-mother-died-having-gastric-band-fitted-shield-daughter-bullies.html

If u believe that patients cant lose the weight on their own. They need a lap band to help with behavior modification. So If a patient has a lap band and fails then the behavior modification failed and hence the lap band failed, not the patient. Also, if you can follow the strict lap band diet and keep the wheight off how do you know you couldn't do it without the band because the band diet is harder than a regular diet because of all the restrictions on food and on how you need to chew so much. Many people who do WLS eat emotionally and the lap band company (allergan) says on their website the band does not work for this. Obviosly people who eat a lot and cant follow a diet on their own have a food addiction, at least the majority. And since the lap band company says people with mental problems shouldn't get the band most WLS patients shouldn't really have had surgery. Last time I checked, having an addiction is a mental issue. I am not saying obese people are mentally ill. I myself am obese according to bmi charts and eat emotionally. How well would the band do if the FDA made surgeons and the device company say in ads or in the office that if you eat when stressed you cannot have the band (only for non emotional eaters who can already control their weight)? My point is since the company admits the band doesn't help with weightloss of emotional eating what is the point of the band for the majority of patients. Also the research articles show horrible complication and failure.

Oh hi!

You're the dude who knows someone who unfortunately died from the lapband, and has already been banned from this site twice for spreading misinformation and lies about the band in general, and specifically about the Fieldings.

I've missed you! Let's see how long your smear campaign will last this time.

I am posting some research articles that show lap bnad dangers. You have to read the whole article to understand them. You cant just read the abstract.

Article ref 12 is mainly about gastric bypass not the band. Read it and you will see.

I am posting some research articles that show lap bnad dangers. You have to read the whole article to understand them. You cant just read the abstract.

Article ref 4 is a clinical study in Finland carried out from 1993 till 1999.

The band and the procedure have both been improved since then and the rates are much lower now. Please get current data.

I am posting some research articles that show lap bnad dangers. You have to read the whole article to understand them. You cant just read the abstract.

Article ref 6 makes note of the need for post op care from your surgeon. Anyone on this site will tell you that and if your surgeon is not providing adequate post op care you need to find a new one.

read this too. the lap band was denied approval by fda in 2000. all of a sudden the next year it was approved by the fda without a comitee meeting. Something strange is going on between allergan and the FDA. Read the poor study results. Mean EWL is low. At the bottom it explains the panel denied approval in 2000.FDA_Lap_Band_REFUSAL_(2000).pdfFDA_Lap_Band_REFUSAL_(2000).pdf

You are right. It does explain it at the end of that 25 page FDA document and I will do so here for those who will only read your post and not the article.

It says that in 2000 the FDA did not approve the device as the study they were using to judge it effectiveness only had two years of data and they felt it should have at least three years.

Therefore the next year when they did have three years of data, they analyzed it and decided to aprove the band.

In the past I have reported you as a troll to the admins and you were banned and all your posts deleted. But I'm finding it much more fun to go through your posts one by one and prove that there is no validity to them!