PR Web - United Kingdom, October 12, 2008 –(PR.com)–
Due to the financial pressures on the UK National Health Service, the vast majority of patients who are urgently in need of Obesity Surgery are forced to pay privately for their operations.
Searching for the right option for private surgery can be difficult, and sometimes confusing. Prices vary enormously, as does the extent of care and support offered before, during and after surgery. Making the right choice when dealing with something as important as major surgical procedures is vital. Cost, though important, is only one factor when deciding where to go for safe surgery.

Following a BBC 10-o’clock news item on Thursday 9th October on the dangers of having Gastric Banding in Belgium, Cosmetic Bliss, who, of course, co-operate exclusively with Dr Michal Cierny PhD in Brno, Czech Republic for all bariatric surgery felt the need to respond.
Cosmetic Bliss hold no brief for Belgian Weight Loss Surgeons, and strongly support IFSO guidelines on appropriate BMI levels being used as a factor in risk assessment of patient suitability for surgery. All surgery performed under general anaesthesia carries a risk however, and the laparoscopic techniques used in Gastric Banding and Sleeve Gastrectomies, although proven to have several advantages over open surgery, are not risk-free. Nevertheless, under the care of an experienced specialist surgeon such as Dr Cierny, and with the support of a good surgical team the risks of surgery for a patient are much smaller than the risks involved in remaining obese. It is the duty of the surgeon and his team to make an assessment of a patient’s
suitability for surgery on the basis of this risk assessment.

Aug 29 2008 by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo

‘I feel as if I’m stuck inside a horrible shell’

A YOUNG dad has told how he has become a recluse after being refused an operation to remove four stone of excess skin from his body.

Alistair Preston, 28, was morbidly obese and told he would be dead within a year if he did not shed weight from his 37-stone frame.

The father of one, from Pengam Green, Cardiff, lost 20 stone after he underwent a £10,000 gastric sleeve operation in 2006, paid for by his mother, who re-mortgaged her house. COSMETIC BLISS NOTE: A SLEEVE OPERATION WITH US WILL COST ONLY £4,990.00

By Kate Devlin Medical Correspondent Daily Telegraph 10/09/08

One of Britain’s top surgeons is considering taking legal action over the “rationing” of life saving obesity surgery on the NHS.Professor John Baxter said that the health service was putting patients lives at risk by not funding the surgery for many.

He accused Primary Care Trusts of limiting the number of operations they performed because of the cost, which can be up to £6,000.

He said that the operations, which include gastric band surgery, would pay for themselves within four years, because they would reduce the number of obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes.

By Steve Connor, Science Editor INDEPENDENT (UK)
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The number of Britons undergoing drastic stomach surgery to treat obesity will have to soar in the coming years because it will be the only way that many people are able to maintain the weight loss necessary for a healthy life, scientists have said.

Dieting and other lifestyle changes can lead to substantial weight loss. But many people, the scientists said, find it hard to maintain the loss because hormone levels change, making the body want to produce more fat.

Daily Telegraph 05/05/08
The Government’s medical advisory body is recommending radical surgery to help patients and the public purse, writes Lorraine Fraser.

More than one million people who are grossly overweight should be able to have stomach stapling operations on the National Health Service to cure their eating disorders, according to the body that advises the Government on which treatments should be available the NHS.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has decided that the consequences of being seriously obese are so great for individuals and the public purse that drastic treatment should be offered routinely where all else has failed.

Press association 20/02/08

Many obesity units are refusing obesity surgery for patients on the grounds of cost, a survey has shown.

The study found that hospitals and primary care trusts have seen a 650% rise in referrals for surgery from doctors over the past five years.

Six out of 10 consultants approached at 20 hospital trusts across England said they were not sufficiently resourced to cope with the huge rise in demand.

The survey of 20 specialist obesity units was carried out by Pulse magazine. Half (52%) of consultants said their units were forced to bounce referrals back to GPs after refusing surgery for patients.

20 February 2008 Swansea Evening Post
Obesity services in Wales are among the worst in the country, a Swansea surgeon has claimed. Professor John Baxter was responding to a study which has found many obesity units are refusing surgery for patients on the grounds of cost.

The study found that hospitals and primary care trusts had seen a 650 per cent rise in patients being referred for surgery over the past five years.

Six out of 10 consultants approached at 20 hospital trusts across England said they were not given the resources to cope with the huge rise in demand.

Friday, February 08, 2008

By Victoria O’Hara - Belfast Telegraph
An Ulster woman last night said she was left devastated after being told - on the very day of the life-changing surgery she had waited months for - that it was only performed in England.

The woman, who is from the Antrim area, had her bags packed ready to undergo bariatric surgery - an elaborate procedure designed to promote weight loss - in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast on Wednesday.

She had been preparing for almost four months after receiving a date for the operation in October.

By DENISE GRADY New York Times
Published: January 23, 2008
Weight-loss surgery works much better than standard medical therapy as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes in obese people, the first study to compare the two approaches has found.

The study, of 60 patients, showed that 73 percent of those who had surgery had complete remissions of diabetes, meaning all signs of the disease went away. By contrast, the remission rate was only 13 percent in those given conventional treatment, which included intensive counseling on diet and exercise for weight loss, and, when needed, diabetes medicines like insulin, metformin and other drugs.