Many of you on here know me well, I have been a part of these message boards for years. I love our members and I want only the best for them. Therefore, I can not in good conscience keep this to myself any longer.

Dr. Illan is a wonderful surgeon. In fact, when I used to coordinate, for a while I actually referred patients to him. His coordinator, Omar, has a very, very faithful following. So much so, I fully expect and am prepared for the "verbal beating" I am going to get for going public with what I know. But, if I prevent just one woman from experiencing what I am about to share with you, then it will all be worth it.

As I said, Omar is very well loved among the patients, especially the ladies. He goes out of his way to ensure everyone has a great experience while there. He provides for the patient's every need, transports them around town, runs errands for them, sits by their bedside and so much more. He is very charming and charismatic. There will be many, many members who will respond to this thread stating just that. In fact, when the first patient, one that I had referred to them, approached me about what happened to her, I did her a horrible disservice by not really believing what she told me, because Omar did such a good job of convincing me otherwise. But now, after six woman, some of whom I referred to Dr. Illan, some not, have contacted me regarding what happened to them, I know now that first patient was telling me the truth, she did not misinterpret anything and I must speak out.

So, what is it that I am speaking off? I am talking about taking advantage of woman who have traveled to a foreign country by themselves, most likely have low self-esteem due to their weight issues, they are scared and they are lonely. Then, along comes Omar. He is by their side throughout their stay. He is, as I said before, charming and charismatic. They very quickly find themselves falling victim to him, and he takes advantage of them in several different ways. He either is sexually suggestive to them, sexually inappropriate, or convinces these woman he truly cares for/loves them and begins a romantic relationship with them. Because of how vulnerable they are, they believe he really does care about them, and they allow themselves to be wooed by him and have a romantic and/or sexual relationship with him. Then, shortly after, he basically dumps them. He quits responding to their calls, texts, etc. He leaves these woman feeling broken and foolish for falling for him. They feel like they have done something wrong, when in fact, they are merely the victim of a heartless man taking extreme advantage of his position and their vulnerability. Understand, I am not saying this happens with every patient, but it does happen and it shows an extreme lack of professionalism and moral character.

I have attempted to contact Dr. Illan to speak with him personally about this. Unfortunately, Omar makes that nearly impossible. All calls, emails, etc. are intercepted by him. And, here is the saddest part of all, Dr. Illan already knows what is going on. So, I am doubtful my talking to him would make a difference. Dr. Illan knows Omar has a strong fan base, and therefore, brings him a great deal of business. So, he turns a blind eye to what is happening. Which, is why I have no guilt in publicly coming out and sharing what I know. I will be honest, my goal here is to have Omar removed from his position as coordinator with Baja Bariatrics and Dr. Illan, and to see that he does not work in this field or any other field where he can take advantage of woman again. And, if Dr. Illan goes down as a result, well, shame on him for allowing it to happen in the first place.

<bashes her head against the desk - ad infinitum, ad nauseum>

Let me explain why we defend him. Many of us know Omar to be a kind and exceptional human being. He is our friend, as well as one hell of a coordinator. We know him to be the exact opposite of what's been described here. When you know a person, it doesn't matter what others can dig up on the internet to scare you (Yes, we know that Omar has changed his life following a series of difficult circumstances and some bad choices when he was younger. When that didn't get a rise the first time you posted it, you'd have thought you'd move on from the topic. His charges were actually pretty benign, and wouldn't have been felony charges if he'd been born 50 miles to the north). This fear campaign only matters to new patients who don't know this team and who just want to change their lives. Shame on those who would put fear in the hearts of others who are looking to escape obesity. That is unkind.

The people who defend him (most of us know one another) don't believe these accusations, and Susan has had several "be afraid" campaigns to share with people immediately following exchanges where people didn't do what she wants. She did something similar when I was desperately searching for a surgeon due to some complications with my lapband. She'd referred me to Dr. Kelly, and then shortly after that was telling people that he'd killed a woman in the OR. Now, I have asked, and would really like to know, Susan, did you not seek medical treatment from Team Illan less than two months prior to your "concerns?" Did they not decline to help you out of the concern that you do this sort of smear campaign and have done it several times before to other medical providers?

Edited July 17, 201412 yr by maestrita

@@maestrita are you sure you aren't in a cult, dear? Your post above sounds cultish to me.

Edit: it's mainly the second paragraph that I find strange.

Edited July 17, 201412 yr by woo woo

I don't think you meant that in a positive way. I think you used in a paragraph while trying to describe someone who you think is somehow more sexually inclined and in some way negative or dirty because he is of Latino descent. I believe that you said he was "looking to get his rocks off." in the same paragraph. That is discriminatory language, and that's not ok with me. I'm always going to address that when I see it. It's ignorant and not called for. I really don't care if others aren't offended by it. I am, and I'm going to call it out.

Lipstick Lady, I don't care if you're Mexican or not. I don't appreciate discriminatory language such as "beaner." You aren't entitled to offend others due to your heritage. This phrase is ignorant, and it contributes to people thinking that Latinos are less educated and aren't as valuable in our communities. I can't believe that we still have to address matters like this in this day and age. It's deplorable.

Did you mean it in a positive way?

Yes I mean it in a positive way. We all have had a lover in our lives , it's up to us to decide which lover we want to be with.

I meant to say "our group of friends." I've edited it to make it easier to get to the point. I hope you find that helpful.

@@maestrita are you sure you aren't in a cult, dear? Your post above sounds cultish to me.

Edit: it's mainly the second paragraph that I find strange.

Edited July 17, 201412 yr by maestrita

Why are you so obsessed with Susan? This is not her truth! It is the truth of seven women who came forward with a warning! She just so happens to be the person that was not afraid to get the truth out there about a man who likes to seduce obese women. If they would have come to me or any other person on here they could trust, I would have been the one standing up for them and warning other women who might go to that company.

I don't think you meant that in a positive way. I think you used in a paragraph while trying to describe someone who you think is somehow more sexually inclined and in some way negative or dirty because he is of Latino descent. I believe that you said he was "looking to get his rocks off." in the same paragraph. That is discriminatory language, and that's not ok with me. I'm always going to address that when I see it. It's ignorant and not called for. I really don't care if others aren't offended by it. I am, and I'm going to call it out.

Lipstick Lady, I don't care if you're Mexican or not. I don't appreciate discriminatory language such as "******." You aren't entitled to offend others due to your heritage. This phrase is ignorant, and it contributes to people thinking that Latinos are less educated and aren't as valuable in our communities. I can't believe that we still have to address matters like this in this day and age. It's deplorable.

Obviously you don't know me so how can you say what I meant! I am trying to understand where you are coming from with your defence but for the life of me I can't. To me you are one of those people who have to see it for your self to believe it ( right). As far as that goes you second guess everyone, probably even a child who says their parents hit them. You dont see bruises or cuts so yo probably think they are doing it for attention. I hope nothing bad ever happens to you because karma is a bitch!

maestrita,

Now that you've shared, in addition to being an educator from Washington, you're a good friend of Omar's and find him to be a kind and exceptional human being ...

... and regardless of where Dr. Illan's clinic is located ...

... and regardless of Omar's cultural heritage ...

... do the allegations made in this thread about Omar's character, his behavior, and his own inconsistent presentations about his professional and personal resumes give you any pause whatsoever?

And if he were not already such a good friend of yours, would the allegations in this thread give you any pause whatsoever?

Finally, does it seem rational to you that a potential VSG patient of Dr. Illan's who isn't already his patient and hasn't interacted with Omar already would want to explore seriously these allegations?

Susan, you may have responded already, but since there have been so many posts, I didn't see a reply. I'll paste my questions here again. Are you suggesting that ethnic slurs are acceptable when a person feels slighted by others? Also, I wonder why you responded in the first person to a statement I made to another user of this website. Hmm. Are you asserting that you do not have a personal relationship with one of the founding members of this website? Is that relationship predatory? Could such a relationship be considered predatory since you are a patient, as well? If I were he, I'd stay well away from someone with such a long list of accusations. Do you mean that you did not work for a competing doctor at the time of the "discovery" of the first incident? Do you mean that you referred many patients to the doctor for whom a patient died? Are you certain that you didn't take issue with the death of that patient until you were dismissed from employment? Didn't you seek medical treatment from the doctor to whom you referred patients? Didn't you, in fact, seek medical treatment in Tijuana AFTER you posted that it was extremely dangerous to do so? Are you sure you didn't "find out" about a personal relationship of Omar's immediately following being denied for medical treatment by one of the medical teams you've accused? Could it be possible that this denial comes, in part, from medical professionals fearing getting involved with someone so inclined toward slander and defamation? I'm curious as to why, and perhaps you can answer this... Why would women randomly seek you out to confide their deepest secrets if they'd felt victimized? I mean, I'm struggling to understand how it comes to be that a coordinator who is in no way connected to a medical team becomes the personal confidant of slighted or victimized patients. Can you tell me how, was it seven you said?, how did these women come to find you to express this very personal experience of feeling "taken advantage of?"

For a public school teacher, you would think you would have better reading and retention skills.

You did not miss my response, bless your heart, I chose not to respond to you because you are now grasping at straws and inventing stories. The only somewhat truth is that yes, because, as I have stated previously, I do feel Dr. Illan is a good surgeon, I was considering him for my revision and had a very brief discussion with Omar about it, but later dismissed that thought because I prefer to stay in the US for my surgery. I never pursued it any further. This all took place several weeks prior to six of the seven woman coming forward to me. I did not and would not have considered it afterwards. I am curious, as myself and Bill are the only ones who knew about this, and clearly Bill hasn't spoken to you, why instead of trying to feed blown out of proportion information and lies to you to ask me, why doesn't Omar man up himself and confront me with his questions directly? I am perfectly willing to speak with him, if he has the cajones to do so. But, as he knows he is in the wrong, I don't suspect he does.

Let me explain why we defend him. Many of us know Omar to be a kind and exceptional human being. He is our friend, as well as one hell of a coordinator. We know him to be the exact opposite of what's been described here. When you know a person, it doesn't matter what others can dig up on the internet to scare you (Yes, we know that Omar has changed his life following a series of difficult circumstances and some bad choices when he was younger. When that didn't get a rise the first time you posted it, you'd have thought you'd move on from the topic. His charges were actually pretty benign, and wouldn't have been felony charges if he'd been born 50 miles to the north). This fear campaign only matters to new patients who don't know this team and who just want to change their lives. Shame on those who would put fear in the hearts of others who are looking to escape obesity. That is unkind. The people who defend him (most of us know one another) don't believe these accusations, and Susan has had several "be afraid" campaigns to share with people immediately following exchanges where people didn't do what she wants. She did something similar when I was desperately searching for a surgeon due to some complications with my lapband. She'd referred me to Dr. Kelly, and then shortly after that was telling people that he'd killed a woman in the OR. Now, I have asked, and would really like to know, Susan, did you not seek medical treatment from Team Illan less than two months prior to your "concerns?" Did they not decline to help you out of the concern that you do this sort of smear campaign and have done it several times before to other medical providers?

Once again, for a teacher, those reading and retention skills aren't to sharp, are they? I never told anyone Dr. Kelly or any other doctor killed anyone in the OR. I have no knowledge of that happening.

Why are you so obsessed with Susan? This is not her truth! It is the truth of seven women who came forward with a warning! She just so happens to be the person that was not afraid to get the truth out there about a man who likes to seduce obese women. If they would have come to me or any other person on here they could trust, I would have been the one standing up for them and warning other women who might go to that company.

Because the fanclub feels that if they can discredit me, that will put doubts in people's minds. However, most people on here have known me for years, know my associations with others in the bariatric community and why these woman felt comfortable coming to me. In addition, if they can make this thread all about me, instead of Omar's inappropriate use of his position to manipulate and take advantage of woman, then perhaps people will forget the whole reason this topic was started to begin with.

(My child posted a draft of something I wrote a couple of days ago--sorry--it's not really relevant anymore and now I need to get in and delete this.)

Edited July 17, 201412 yr by rhw94123

I am among the 100s of Baja Bariatrics patients who had a positive, uneventful experience. I never like to see any person (male or female) get hurt in romance and I feel for these women who are hurting.

 

That being said, I would like to point out that a not insignificant number of women end up with "vacation" type energy surrounding their trips to Mexico and some even travel together in small "girls' trip" type groups.. Many are getting pedicures, arranging child care, setting aside spending money and generally getting out of their home area codes for the first time in MANY years in conjunction with getting Sleeved. Add to that the giddiness, exhilaration and boost in self-esteem that many experience as a result of dropping significant pre-op weight and (in some instances) Mexican VSG patients can be a pretty lively, devil-may-care, bawdy, flirtatious bunch (complete with "Cougar" jokes, sparring over who has the cutest doctor, having fun flirting, etc.). I went to TJ twice and cringed a bit when I saw ladies calling one of the young docs "Dr. Hottie" and vaguely coming on to him, lol (i was worried HE would be filing a complaint!).

 

Of course t

I can be pretty lively, fun and flirtatious at my senior age, and even being happily married I certainly know how to make cougar jokes with my many friends and act raucous.  We can act crazy as teenagers.  What does that have to do with a man named Omar preying on women?   

Hi, Linda--

I had forgotten that partial post I had written on my phone a couple of days ago and my daughter just brought it to me saying she'd been playing a game and "something was loading" (read: uploading ). What I was talking about then is not really useful at this point in the discussion and I quickly tried to delete that stale post. I was just addressing what (a couple of days ago) seemed to be a fear among some that patients were being wooed and pursued right in their hospital beds as they fought off gas pains and worked on walking the halls, etc. I don't know the details of the ladies Susan wrote about, but I did see a good number of female patients pursuing medical staff down there and I wanted to point out that every romantic entanglement that results from Mexican medical tourism is not necessarily one of patient-as-prey in the classic sense.

Let's face it, you can find romance at the corner bar in the USA.  I think the point is that this man is part of the medical establishment and is involved with not one, but probably many woman, probably hundreds if the truth be known.  For these women I don't care if they want to have a liaison if they want (their business).  What bothers me is there is a pattern here of this man preying on women.    This is his job.  And his hobby obviously.