RE: Upsetting story on CBS news

December 20, 2003

> CBS early morning news just did a story on the down side of

gastric

> bypass. They said that surgeons often tell patients that the

> mortality rate for the surgery is 1 in 500 (I've heard 1 in 200).

> They said a new study actually showed it to be 1 in 50. But, they

> attributed that to a lot of new, inexperienced doctors jumping on

the

> bandwagon.

============ That is a major concern of mine, also. I have two

friends who had GB's by inexperienced surgeons jumping on the

bandwagon. These doctors want to learn how to perform this surgery

and the learning curve is steep, but they have to learn somewhere,

so it is on the patients. Many are stepping right into the Lap

procedure which is a greater learning curve still.

The money for them is intoxicating and they are jumping in without

support staff, nutritionist or the correct aftercare information.

Neither of the two surgeons mentioned above had any type of follow-

up care in place or support meetings for patients.

Both of my friends have gotten all of their after-care information

from me or this list. They have literally been dropped with no

mention of yearly bloodwork, vitamins regimens or necessities, yadda

yadda.

Darn shame.

Carol G

(Whose pet peeve is STILL how the fat community is so abused and

taken advantage of because the perception is we open our pockets to

anything that even smacks of easy weight loss. Next thing you know,

some quack will put a diet pill inside a SF Peep and make a fortune.)

December 20, 2003

Yes, Amber! That's exactly what's happening all over the country. The law

protects the doctors, and it's very hard for patients to find out if the doctor

has lost any malpractice suits or been sanctioned somehow. And, to the best

of my knowledge, the hospitals don't even have access to much of that

information. All they have is word of mouth, and if it's across state lines,

that's a

long way to travel.

Again, that recent case of the nurse in NJ who killed all those people, he

was thrown out of several hospitals in PA (right next door to NJ), had been

brought up on murder charges, etc., and the hospital had no knowledge of

it....very, very scary.

in NJ

**************************

In a message dated 12/20/2003 6:08:31 PM Eastern Standard Time,

rehab2@... writes:

> , I do not know about " protected class " but let me tell you what

> happened here in FL. There was an orthopedic surgeon - really, really

> bad. The other ortho surgeons at the hosp put pressure on the hosp to

> pull his surgical privileges after multiple malpractice suits - the hosp

> did so and the bad doc sued the hosp under the fair trade premise, he

> won!!! He is now practicing in TX and the law prevents FL from telling

> TX all the prolems he has had here!! Scary? You betcha.

> Amber/FL - a neurotic RN

>

December 20, 2003

There is a website where you can check on doctors/complaints. But I can't

remember where it is right now. Maybe it will come to me later. <VBG>

Jac

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Upsetting story on CBS news

CBS early morning news just did a story on the down side of gastric

bypass. They said that surgeons often tell patients that the

mortality rate for the surgery is 1 in 500 (I've heard 1 in 200).

They said a new study actually showed it to be 1 in 50. But, they

attributed that to a lot of new, inexperienced doctors jumping on the

bandwagon. They focused on a woman who had severe complications,

ended up on life support, etc. The good news is that she came

through, and is now healthy & happy.

I don't know who or where they got this study from, but it's scary.

What even more upsetting is that I'm a Real Estate Appraiser, and

it's very easy to check if any people in my profession have been

sanctioned or have lost their license...it's right online at the

National Registry. But, it's often impossible to check if medical

professionals have had any lawsuits amd/or lost their ability to

practice medicine in any state....case in point, that nurse who was

recently arrested in NJ for killing patients, and who had been fired

from several out-of-state hospitals for suspicious behavior, even

having had charges filed in some states.

But, I could go on & on about the medical profession....

in NJ

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December 20, 2003

I believe each state has their own website. Try looking under Department of

Health and there should be a section for doctors/complaints.

Tina T.