The topic was weight loss surgery, but of course they only talked about lap-band. OMG. Seriously, I was so apalled at what I was hearing that I was driven to write them a letter, which is something I would never do. They had the smug lap-band surgeon laughingly say there was only 1% chance of any type of complication and that the surgery only takes 15 minutes. He was such a douche! They had a couple of success stories on there and everyone was so bowled over by how awesome everything is. There was one lady on there that was talking about complications, but they didn't really give her much time. Here is a copy of what I wrote - I wanted to share it with you all:

*****

The lap band is a nightmare!!!!!!

This is a direct quote from the Allergan web site regarding lap-band safety: "In the study, 25% of the patients had their band systems removed, two-thirds of which were following adverse events. "

Reference: http://www.lapband.c...nformation/#top

If the 600,000 patient count that was quoted on the show is accurate, that means up to 150,000 have probably had them removed and this should be represented in the discussion.

Your lap-band "expert" surgeon downplayed the risks as if they didn't exist. I got the lap-band almost 4 years ago and I just had it removed a month ago. There are thousands of people like me out there. I'm not sure where the statistics are coming from, but I think there is a huge silent group of people out there having revision surgeries. There is not as much information out there regarding lap-band patients 5 years out from surgery, but there are so many that have the band removed because of problems eating (I couldn't eat chicken with my band AT ALL), Problems with chronic port site pain, port flipping, slipping, erosion, doctors that do port fills correctly, and much more. For the record, I did not have any major complications and I still had the band taken out.

Go to a lap-band support forum on line and then look into the "complications" discussions. You will see it all there. And these complications are not because the patient failed, the equipment is problematic, period. Check out www.verticalsleevetalk.com and look into the "Band To SLeeve Revision" topic. Read through the stories and see what is REALLY happeneing out there. These are real people.

Also, your surgeon said something about the removal of a band being "easy". I don't say this lightly, but this guy has no idea what he is talking about. I had an uncomplicated revision surgery and there was internal scarring from the band that needed to be removed.

Please do your homework before you sell this surgery to the desperate overweight people out there. They will believe anything because they want so desperately to lose the weight - i know because I was one of them.

Please, please, please - stop perpetuating this flawed surgical remedy. The marketing is out of control and people are being seriously hurt. There are other surgical options that have better long term results and less long term complications.

Sincerely,

<full name withheld on forum>

**********

I had to get it off of my chest.

Thanks-

Lara

Sounds good and to the point. I am sure you are not the only one who wrote, I hope they listen! Good job.

I had to get it off of my chest.

Thanks-

Lara

Lara,

I watched it online and thought the same thing... why are they glossing over the reality? Dr. Oz is usually very good about presenting both sides of the story. I was also shocked that they only covered the Band. But I realized it was because they were focusing on the new FDA approval for WLS for people with a BMI of 30. This would mean someone that has much less weight to lose and the RNY or VSG would be too extreme for minor weight loss. I am glad that you are speaking up and showing Dr. Oz that the story was simple too one sided. I hope he does a show on the realities of the Band!

Go you!

:thumbs_up:

My guess is that Dr. Oz has some sort of financial incentive for pushing the Lap Band on his show. Follow the money...it will lead you to the truth.

I've always liked Dr. Oz but lately I'm really not liking the crap on his show... very one sided and not nearly enough research being done it before releasing it to the desperate public as "medical doctor advice". We all know its a show but frankly, if a Doctor says you should do it, people listen. Regardless if that doctor was paid to say that or not :thumbs_down: