So I emailed NWWLS in Everett to see if they took patients for fills that have been banded in Mexico and this was the response I got:

Dear Bri,

Thank you for contacting Northwest Weight Loss Surgery.

I understand the frustration in finding aftercare when choosing to have

LAGB surgery outside of the country.

Our Surgeons have a business policy not to accept patients that have

chosen to have LAGB surgery outside of the United States:

* The liability issues- There are foreign surgeons that

advertise the Lap Band, but insert a cheaper band during the surgery.

Most patients don't discover this until they try to get the band

adjusted and learn that they have a cheaper band inside that has a lower

success rate and a higher complication rate.

Does anyone know if this is just competitive mudslinging or if there's truth in this?

Please reply soon if you've heard anything b/c I'm freaking out.

I honestly don't know for sure, but I will say I've been very impressed with NWWLS since my DH had his surgery 3 years ago. So I don't think it's just mudslinging.

There are "fill" nurses in Arlington, WA.

I have a friend who was banded in Monterrey and she's having her fills in Arlington. I'm going to be banded at NWWLS and will receive my fills in Bellingham. I doubt there's mudslinging. It's probably a matter of which way they want the money flowing, huh?

Thanks guys. I contacted my surgeon and he said I'd be getting a certification card with an Inamed ID number so that I can call the company if I want and verify my band, when it was bought, by whom, and for what purpose. In addition, I was told the card has information on what size band it is and how many cc of Saline it holds.

I feel better.... if there are docs that do that, I'm pretty sure I'm lucky enough not to have gotten one.

It's probably a little of both. There are some surgeons outside the US that use a brand of band that isn't one of the FDA bands (Swedish band), but I don't believe that means it is of lesser quality, but it does give them the right not to treat those patients. But, if you have an inamed band and can prove it, I don't see why they would have a 'policy'.

I asked her for more info and this was her response:

Bri,

This is one of the examples that we are aware of. We also know that there are many great Surgeons doing great things all over the world. Your Surgeon should be providing you aftercare or referring you to someone.

Good luck with the band and enjoy the rest of your dayJ

This is a band removed from a patient who had her surgery in Mexico by a surgeon who advertises heavily on the internet to potential patients from the United States. This is not the F.D.A. approved LAP-BAND, this is an inferior band that had eroded into her stomach.

Denise WoodContact Center Manager

Northwest Weight Loss Surgery

425.341.4802 office

425.239.1516 cell

Denise.Wood@thelapband.com

I note the use of the word "cheaper", not inferior or non-approved. I would take scare tactics like this with a huge pinch of salt. To send a photo like that is a despicable thing to do to someone who's already had their op. Personally I would lodge a complaint against them for underhand tactics. At the very least they need to direct people to the source of this claim. In all of the thousands of people on this site I've never heard of this, and you'd think the victims of such surgeons would be screaming from the rooftops! :confused:

I had this issue also. I was banded in Australia and moved to the US(Washington State also) almost 3 years ago. When I started having complications with my band (severe reflux mostly) it was a bit of a process to get a surgeon here who would even touch me due to liability issues. Apparently it doesn't matter who or when the band was installed, as soon as a surgeon touches anything to do with the band, they assume full responsibility. I don't know how true that is, but I was told several times. I didn't even know what kind of band I had or how much fluid was in it. Doctor Billing at Puget Sound Surgical in Edmonds contacted my surgeon in Australia and got all my records sent over before he examined me. It's not an issue now as he knows my history and has my records. It was a nuisance but soooooo worth finding a local doctor you can go back to. He performed my port replacement surgery and ongoing follow up care also.

*sigh*

Well, I'm officially in Monterrey, Mexico. Day after tomorrow I'll be banded by Dr. Rumbaut.

To me the pic of the device looks about 100 years old and possibly doctored. I know my grandma had a port and a pain pump installed in her late in life soooooo really the above apparatis could be aNYTHING. My doc does fills for Mexican bands...... I would take the pic and the TONE with a HUGE shaker of salt!

I agree on the photo thing. Mine was way back in June and this photo still is a little scarey. I had mine done in Mexico as did several of my friends. So far so good.

*sigh*

Well, I'm officially in Monterrey, Mexico. Day after tomorrow I'll be banded by Dr. Rumbaut.

Sorry Zuchinno. I hadn't realised you were yet to be banded. Ignore the idiots that sent you this. I'm sure you've done your homework and spoken to plenty of Dr. Rumbauts previous patients. If there was cause for concern someone would have flagged it up by now.

We have a similar problem with this sort of scaremongering in the UK. Going to Belgium (and paying less than half the price) is akin to visiting Witch Doctor according to the overpriced clinics here. They've even got celebs on the payroll armed with suitable horror stories. It's all just a lousy sales pitch. Ignore them and be comfident in your decision.

xxx

If it is any reassurance, I have called about 10 local band doctors, and no one will take me to be filled.. I was banded in USA in Alabama, and these doctors are in Alabama.. but they all have a no-fill policy if they didn't band me. Has nothing to do with where I was banded, they just won't do it for liability in general.

It's frustrating!! Good luck on your search :tea: I called 2 new doctors today and left voicemails hoping for some positive news.

I asked her for more info and this was her response:

Bri,

This is one of the examples that we are aware of. We also know that there are many great Surgeons doing great things all over the world. Your Surgeon should be providing you aftercare or referring you to someone.

Good luck with the band and enjoy the rest of your dayJ

This is a band removed from a patient who had her surgery in Mexico by a surgeon who advertises heavily on the internet to potential patients from the United States. This is not the F.D.A. approved LAP-BAND, this is an inferior band that had eroded into her stomach.

Denise WoodContact Center Manager

Northwest Weight Loss Surgery

425.341.4802 office

425.239.1516 cell

Denise.Wood@thelapband.com

This is such total crap! That photo... nobody can even verify it is a real photo vs. something some US surgeon made up. Seriously, do you know how many people have to use this very photo? It's taken from the website of another surgeon.

I double dawg dare Ms. Contact Center Manager to tell us who placed the band and in what patient. I'll bet you a cyberdollar she can't do it because this is copied from another whacko surgeon. I know the whacko surgeon that started passing this photo around and he has the morality of a stray alley cat. He is an AZ doctor and he was one of the first that claimed he personally removed this from a Mexican banded patient.

If this is common practice then why can't these surgeons use their own photos of bands they have removed from Mexican patients? They can't because they have never SEEN such a silly band.

One of the issues is that fills are simply not a money maker. Banding is a money maker. If a doc can walk away from surgery making $2K-$5K for a 30-40 minute surgery, he's going to do that before making $200 off a lousy 15 minute fill.

The morality of downing an entire country based on BS like the above says something about that doc's office. When they can only make themselves look good by downing people they don't know, have never met, and blame skilled surgeons for being from the wrong country tells me they either don't have enough reputation to make themselves look good or they are nothing but a bunch of Mexico hating bigots.

Mexico has been doing banding longer than the US.

Most of the original US surgeons were TRAINED by doctors in Mexico.

Mexico has better erosion/slip stats than US docs. So if US docs are so superior to the rest of the world, why don't their stats show this?

Mexican surgeons have to meet the SAME requirements as US surgeons for Inamed band brands. A real band, unlike the fake photo above.

However, this is the first time I have seen that particular photo that the office didn't make bogus claims that they removed the band themselves. All the other times I have seen THAT particular photo the doc claims he personally removed it from the poor patient.

If that is a real photo, how did the idiot US surgeon get it out of the patient without cutting the sutures? Look at them. They are still intact. What did he do, rip it out of the patient?

Bottom line, you aren't making that surgeon's office enough money to make you worth his time. He could do surgery or fills. He makes more from surgery. Scare tactics like this are unethical, unreasonable, and quite frankly they just can't go much lower than that.

Feel lucky that you found out their true colors before you handed over your hard earned cash. They don't deserve patients, I wouldn't take my dog to a doctor that passes around bogus claims like this in the name of the almighty dollar. Anyone that downs an entire country, judges them across the board merely because they are from Mexico... what does that tell you about that doctor?

What is really amusing is that most of the time when a doc is downing ALL of Mexico if you do your homework, they are either a newbie doc trying to convince people to go to him by insulting an entire country, or they were TRAINED by Mexican docs.

This photo is nothing but an urban legend. Ignore, and feel lucky you didn't have surgery by the surgeons office passing this crap around and calling it truth.

*sigh*

Well, I'm officially in Monterrey, Mexico. Day after tomorrow I'll be banded by Dr. Rumbaut.

Personal opinion only, but I think the two best surgeons (most skilled, experienced, able to handle the difficult and tricky procedures) are Dr. Aceves in Mexicali and Dr. Rumbaut in Monterrey.

You'll be fine, he's got more experience that most (all?) in the US and he didn't get his experience and reputation by putting in home made bands in US patients.

I second what Wasa.... says. I went to Monterray and had a wonderful experience with the Dr. and hospital. I had Dr. Chapa after my own Dr. was murdered (Dr. Sanchez). I got a Dr's report after the Dr. and his assistant came to my hotel room the night after my surgery to check on my well being. (Can you EVER imagine an American Doc doing that!!). I got a card with my band info on it as well as the serial number correlation on the doc's report.

You should have seen how caring and kind the nurses and the anesthesiologist was. I went all by my lonesome and said I needed a bit more support and they gave it.

You should call around. And try Filldoctors USA or whatever it is called. I suspect in as populated areas that you have, there will be plenty. I have one option...and his fees kill me.

Shawn