Best Rue-N-Y lap doctor in AZ?

hard to find the answer...Who is the best bariatric surgeon in Arizona? I'd like to know who has the best education, most experience doing Rue-N-Y laparoscopic surgery and lowest rates of complications.

You might want to go to one of Dr. Hilario Juarez seminars. I went to one in January and he was very knowledgeable and absolutely no nonsense. He did my surgery on 02-04-03 and I haven't had a single complication! I had open RNY and I am down 94 lbs! (hard to beleive, even as I am typing it!). if you would like additional info, e-mail me!

Hi! This is an interesting question because it's sort of subjective.It would be hard to say who the best "one" is because there is alot to take into consideration. Usually you will find, that people feel their surgeon is the best. It really depends on what you are looking for in a surgeon. Some people are looking for a surgeon with great surgical skill and don't really care if the bedside manner is lacking. Others might want a surgeon who has a great surgical ability and has a great bedside manner....Every surgeon is different and they all have good and bad points.....what's important is finding the best surgeon for you............The surgeon's seminars are great because you can attend each one of them, to help you get a better, in person perspective.I went to as many as possible before I chose a surgeon that I was the most comfortable with.........A surgeon can have the best education,the most experience ,a low complication rate and still might not be the right surgeon for you. Also, a surgeon might have a higher complication rate because they are taking on patients who are at a greater risk for complications, not because they aren't a good surgeon....A surgeon who only has one years worth of experience in doing lap gastric bypass may seem inexperienced but they could also have 12 years under their belt in other, similiar types of surgery.There are alot of bariatric surgeons who started as oncology surgeons,dealing with stomach cancer...This is an awesome site because you can research surgeons and I'm sure that you might be able to get your questions answered about education,complications and experience but in my opinion those answers won't equal up to who is the best.... just my more than 2 cents

Thanks for the responses, but I really am looking for non-subjective "hard" data. As for what's available at this site, many of the doctors listed have put no hard data on their resumes at all - not even how much education they have. As far as complication rates, I realize that they often include the deaths of people who had very complicated weight problems, but nevertheless, I believe that doctors should be able give one a good idea of what the rate of deaths are in their practices of people with relatively low BMIs and # of co-morbidities. One is always afraid to ask these questions for fear of being labelled a "troublesome" patient and doctors are anything but forthcoming with this data, as a general rule. Thanks for the advice anyway. - Stephanie Jackter

Hello! I was VERY happy with Dr. Steven Simon who did my Lap RNY. I had no complications whatsoever. My surgery was 2-24-03 and I am now down 69 lb. Please feel free to write to ask more questions. GOOD LUCK!

Like someone else said the answer will be subjective, because we all think that our surgeons are the best. I had Dr. Steven Simon and was thrilled with the results, no pain, a caring surgeon, very well educated and a quick recovery. It will require some research on your part, but I am sure ultimatley you will make the right decision. Visit some of our Drs forums and see what people say, maybe even attend a few of those Drs group meetings as well and see how their patients are doing post-op, read some of our profiles and view our experiences before and after surgery and see who has had more positive comments. I wish you the best and God bless!

This is a very difficult question. I researched the doctors in the valley and chose Dr. Steven Simon. I also spoke with my other health care providers and both Dr. Newhoff and Dr. Simon were highly recommended. I did go to other orientations and found that I didn't feel like they were geared to the "individual" but rather a crowd. One of the seminars I attended had about 80 prospective patients and questions were limited. The seminar I attended for Dr. Simon/Newhoff was limited to 10 patients and lasted for 2.5 hours and probably would have gone longer had we still had questions. We had some of our questions answered prior to asking them, complication rate, death rate, new eating habits, type of surgery and many others. I think most doctors don't post death or complication rates on obesity help because it limits it to just that, death and complications and does not allow to back up the response with the causes. I had my surgery on 3/24/03 with Dr. Simon and I am very pleased with the results from the surgery as well as the surgeon. Dr. Simon used to teach the LAP RNY in Guthrie Pennsylvania. Prior to my surgery I was able to e-mail with some of his patients in Penn. Try going to the "find peers" section up to and choose Pennsylvania and look for patient that had surgery with doctor Simon while he was there. I hope you find a surgeon that suits your specific needs. I know I did. After I decided what surgeon I was going to use (1/29/03) everything went quickly. Less than two months and my surgery was over. Vicky

S, I did a lot of reading on this sight and got out and spoke with people as well. Here is a sight that will give you some medical credential information as well as any information on malpractice suites (settled or dismissed). Not a TON of info, but it is fact-based and through the State. Good luck finding someone you like.

http://www.bomex.org/getlicense.asp