If there was a Class Action Lawsuit against the band....

[Nursebarbie 392]

I'm the OP for this topic and wow almost three years later it's still very much a hot topic! I have lost 100 pounds am at goal for over a year. The sleeve is amazing and way better than the band. Still waiting on the ads for class action haven't seen any yet.

[Megdelyn 85]

Mine leaked, so I definitely would.

[lexiemia 78]

I use to love my band and probably still do. But I have gone through a lot with it. I suppose we failed each other, but it failed me first. I only lost 45 lbs in 4 years and I really tried. After all of the pain,stomach bloat, and reflux that was horrible I went through....sign me up too. I cried all the way home from the Dr. yesterday because it's not working any more and I've known that for a while now, but just to hear it again and the fact that my insurance may not cover the sleeve but will cover the bypass really saddened me.

I like many more here have had persistent problems with my band to the point I had all the Fluid drained and have gained all 100+ lbs back over the last year and a half. Very depressing to say the least. My employer is about to switch from BCBS to Cigna so I'm hoping Cigna will approve the gastric sleeve or a full bypass. I'd love to hear people's experiences with getting insurance approval for this.[/quote

I have Cigna insurance. I had my band removed and converted to a sleeve 5/28. For insurance approval I had to do a 4 month weight supervised counseling with my surgeon. Then a nutritional consult and a psy consult. Just like when I had the band. The only thing I paid out of pocket was my 300 dollar deductible. I am so glad to have the band out. Especially the port it had a tendency to be sore a lot due to scar tissue. Good luck on getting your approval. Just don't give up even if they say no at first.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

I just got a check for $3.72 for something I don't believe ever hurt me (thank you class action lawsuits).

Lapband hurt 10 years of my life...but I bear a role in that two. An apology for dashing my hopes and dreams and causing misery and suffering for a decade would be nice. You can t keep your 3 bucks and change. .

[tzilla 6]

I loved my band the first 4 yrs that love slowly turned to hatred. I had slips, reflux, fills and eventually a cracked tube. I had surgery in december to repair the tubing hoping to regain my original love... only to find out the darn port flipped before I could have my next fill. At this point I was done w the band. On May 26 I had a revision from band to sleeve. I have BCBS and didn't have too many necessary hoops to jump through. It has only been a few wks since my surgery but I already know I will never regret removing the band.

[Nursebarbie 392]

I love having the sleeve. No regrets!!!

[Just Lindsey 3]

Yes, yes and YES! I was MISERABLE with the band.

[JohnnyDadums 0]

ABSOLUTELY I WOULD! On my "final" fill, my doctor over-filled my band, resulting in horrific gastric reflux and, eventually, a distended esophagus. I underwent two years of esophageal tests, procedures, scans, etc. TWO YEARS later (coincidentally, the statute of limitations for malpractice suits in Oregon) my band had to be removed. My blood pressure is back up, my weight is back up and my diabetes has returned. SIGN ME UP!

[dcmoore56 10]

I would sign up. I have had to replace the port and have the second port fixed. Now the tubing broke off the port. I am in huge pain and waiting to have the band removed. Then I am getting a sleeve. Hopefully all in one surgery. But band has been tough for me.

[ezbeinggreen 50]

i would absolutely join a class action law suit, and I loved my band... until it nearly killed me! I had a 4cc Lap Band (Allergan) placed in 2007 at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, MA. At that time, they were still "selling" it as a permanent solution. I had a lot of success with it, I started at 220 and lost 80 pounds in 2.5 years. I only had problems if I ate too fast, didn't chew well or over ate. I started running and ran my first 5K at 38 years old. Then I stalled and slowly started to regain, eventhough I felt restricted after fills.

Around that same time I started getting mystery pain in my side/back, under my rib cage. I could no longer run. It was debilitating and I could barely get out of bed for days at a time. I had every test imaginable and no one could figure out why. My surgeon saw a small air pocket during a swallow study but didn't seem concerned and told me it wasn't causing the pain, said we'd just monitor it. Fast forward a year and one weekend I felt like I was coming down with the flu - high fever, achy all over. By Monday my fever was 103 and so I saw my PCP who performed a strep test and took some blood/urine. The office nurse called me at 5 PM, panicked and insisted I go to the ER immediately - I was in acute kidney failure! I ended up in the hospital for 10 days withpneumonia and some mysterious infection that made me septic! I had a bowel obstruction from dehydration and had to be transferred 1/2 way through my stay from South Shore Hospital to the Lahey Clinic almost an hour away where I had my band surgery because the doctors at SSH were too afraid to try to place an NG tube in a band patient (after letting me vomit for two days straight). Long story short, tests finally revealed my band had completely eroded into my stomach and my stomach had bifurcated into two sections, one still banded and the other section had completely regrown around the band so food was sometimes going down the banded side, sometimes down the other. The only symptoms I ever had were stalled results/regain (eventhough i felt restricted after fills) and that phantom pain no one could find the source of. Oh and I also forgot after all this I ended up with Fluid in my pelvis that had to also be drained before I left the hospital. I am convinced my body was rejecting the eroding band and my compromised immune system couldn't fight whatever infection was shutting my body down (until this day, no one knows what it was, they claim the high doses of antibiotics they gave me made it too difficult to determine). Luckily I completely recovered and had my band removed a few months later in 2011. By the time I healed enough to convert to VSG or RNY, my employer had changed insurance plans and eliminated WLS coverage. I changed jobs in 2014, but again their plan does not cover it so now I am exploring self-pay options for the sleeve as I have regained all my weight. In CT, my surgeon wants $25K to do a sleeve (mostly hospital fees). I found a surgeon near my parents in FL who performs the surgery all-inclusive for $11K. Isn't it crazy how much the cost varies from state to state??? So yes, I would join a class action suit in the hopes no one else suffers like we did, and hopefully I could recoup some of the $ I am going to spend self-financing my sleeve surgery.

And folks, don't blame the insurance companies if WLS is not covered. Your employer picks the coverage and most are now electing to specifically exclude ALL bariatric procedures from coverage. You need to petition your employer. I petitioned my employer's Board of Directors 3 times, and all my appeals were denied.

[dlniess 1]

I sure would!

[Pinkgirl1234 761]

Are you kidding me????Yes indeed!!!!I am in!!!!

[betrthnever 107]

I don't think I would. I would like to see the band surgery no performed anymore. My Dr doesn't even do them anymore.

[Coco2345 0]

I would too I can't believe this post is 2 years old and still no lawyer had been interested.my band has been causing problems for last 2 years and now I have no Fluid due to side effects like so many of you and my insurance won't pay for the conversion surgery. Surely there has to be one lawyer who could advocate for this many people. Does any one know of any such person

[samantha614 12]

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Edited November 13, 2015 by samantha614