DANGERS OF WEIGHT-LOSS SURGERY GROWING AND RAISING CONCERNS OF NUMEROUS HEALTH EXPERTS

Linda Culpepper was admitted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, hair falling out, skin flaking, and barely able to walk. She had frequent bouts of diarrhea and couldn’t eat without vomiting. She was admitted to the hospital with life-threatening malnutrition; complications that resulted from a recent weightloss operation at another hospital. 

In 1995, some 20,000 weight loss operations were performed in the U.S. In 2003, that number increased to 103,000 and 144,000 weight loss surgeries are expected to be performed in 2004.

Bariatric surgery, or gastric bypass, is a weight-loss surgery that closes most of the stomach and shortens the small intestine. Patients often lose 100 pounds following this surgery. 

Despite the popularity, some medical experts are expressing their concerns, warning patients about inexperienced surgeons and inadequate screening procedures that may result in problems later on.

According to Gordon Jensen, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Human Nutrition in Nashville, TN, there has been a “tremendous surge” in patient complications following surgery.

Like Linda Culpepper, patients aren’t always taught how to change their eating habits to adapt to the drastic changes made in their digestive system. 

Jenson noted that some surgeons perform the surgery on children and teenagers, despite the lack of evidence of the procedure’s long term effects. And, some doctors encourage their obese patients to gain more weight in order to qualify for the surgery, as the procedure is typically limited to people 100 pounds overweight. 

According to Dr. Philip Schauer, director of Bariatric surgery, at Magee-Women’s Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh, “There are a lot of surgeons who are new to this field and haven’t had much training…I’ve got three patients now that were treated by other surgeons, with major complications.”

A recent study of gastric bypass suggests that the overall death rate is two times as high as .5% to 1%, and even higher if the surgeon lacks experience. 

Due to the associated dangers and increased costs of the surgery, some insurance companies have stopped covering this procedure. The Massachusetts State Health Department convened an expert panel after three patients died during or after the operation last year; and the National Institute of Health has also launched a study on this procedure. 

SOURCE: New York Times, 2004; International Herald Tribune, www.iht.com, May 6, 2004.