Obesity Surgery Increases by 600 Percent

[Guest guest]

Obesity Surgery Increases by 600 Percent

Safer Techniques, More Insurance Coverage and Celebrity Patients

Make It More Appealing

By BHARATHI RADHAKRISHNAN, ABC News Medical Unit

May 31, 2006 — - She was once diabetic and asthmatic, but now

Louanne Hoffman is healthy and happy -- thanks to obesity surgery.

" I was in a wheelchair ... now I haven't had to use my asthma

medicine for six months, " said Hoffman, a woman from Virginia who

had obesity surgery about 2½ years ago.

There are many people out there with stories similar to Hoffman's.

In recent years, obesity surgery has increased by nearly 600

percent, according to a new study from the American Journal of

Public Health. The number of patients in the United States receiving

gastric bypass surgery increased from about 14,000 in 1998 to more

than 82,000 in 2002.

There are several reasons for this increase, such as increased

coverage from insurance companies and improved surgical techniques

that mean less pain and risk for patients. It also hasn't hurt that

various celebrities, including Carnie and Al Roker, have

increased the visibility of obesity surgery in recent years.

" As more and more people -- including celebrities -- have [obesity

surgery], it becomes socially acceptable. [Then others can] 'join

the club' rather than feeling like social outcasts, " said Dr.

Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University

School of Medicine and an ABC News contributor.

But patients like Hoffman say the main reason they undergo surgery

is to find relief from obesity-related health problems. She's now

back at work after having been on disability leave.

" My life has really changed, and I am still adapting to it, " she

said.

Once considered a fairly risky surgery, recent advancements have

lowered the complication rate for patients.

These operations use minimally invasive techniques that help prevent

complications, such as infections and hernias, from large incisions,

and also mean a faster recovery and less pain, said Dr. Bradley

Needleman, director of bariatric surgery at Ohio State University.

Along with such new techniques, bariatric surgeons are routinely

monitored by hospitals, hospital associations and their adherence to

state guidelines.

In Massachusetts, for example, the Betsy Lehman guidelines,

developed by an expert panel of professionals at the Betsy Lehman

Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction in Boston,

ensure the safety of patients undergoing obesity surgery.

Even though these surgeries can benefit the morbidly obese (anyone

more than 100 pounds overweight), not everyone can afford the cost

of these operations, which is about $30,000, according to Business

Week..

But in February, Medicare started to cover obesity surgery, which

will likely expand the patient pool even further, and surgeons hope

that other insurers follow Medicare's lead.

" Many insurance companies usually follow what Medicare does, so

[many doctors] are hoping that other insurance companies will

[eventually] follow suit, " Needleman said.

Life-Changing for Some

Gastric surgery can pose a huge financial burden, especially if

those paying the bills are parents, which is often the case now.

" Teenagers are undergoing [obesity] surgery in the early 2000 decade

at a frequency that is three times increased compared to the late

1990s, " said Dr. Inge, the surgical director at the

Comprehensive Weight Management Center at the Cincinnati Children's

Hospital Medical Center.

Before having surgery, teens must first meet specific guidelines,

such as reaching sexual and physical maturity. But the surgery can

help obese children suffering from the same obesity-related diseases

that afflict overweight adults, such as diabetes and high blood

pressure, said Dr. Neil Hutcher, president of the American Society

of Bariatric Surgery.

He believes that there is no other effective alternative to morbid

obesity.

" I have had patients who legally changed their birthdays to the day

they had their surgeries, " he said. " These operations were a form of

rebirth for them. "

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