story in the paper about Iowa hospital...

I just saw this in the Omaha World Herald-thought I would post it here. Iowa hospital to end weight-loss surgery » Iowa Methodist Medical Center DES MOINES (AP) - Iowa Methodist Medical Center officials say they will suspend their weight-loss surgery program partly because of malpractice insurance increases following a number of surgeries in which the patients died. Representatives of the Des Moines hospital and the doctors group that runs the program emphasized that they still believe in the gastric-bypass operations, which have surged in popularity in the past few years, the Des Moines Register reported in a copyright story Friday. The nearest similar program is at Des Moines' Mercy Capitol Hospital, which started offering the surgery last year. Patty Nance, a nurse who coordinates Mercy's program, said it could handle many of the patients who might have been considering Methodist. "We're willing and ready to expand to fill the need," Nance said. At least nine Iowa hospitals, including Methodist, have added gastric-bypass programs in the past three years, more than doubling the availability in the state. Many doctors expect such growth to be reversed nationally, however, as insurers begin steering patients toward programs with proven track records. Joe Smith, a spokesman for Methodist's parent company, acknowledged that such market projections affected his hospital's decision to stop offering gastric-bypass operations by year's end. Methodist already had drastically reduced its program to 25 surgeries so far this year, compared with 233 last year. Methodist's announcement was welcomed by the husband of one Iowa Methodist patients who died of complications. John Fry, who termed the suspension decision "excellent," lost his wife last Oct. 6. Leslie Fry, 45, suffered massive infections from an intestinal leak. John Fry is suing the surgeon, Dr. Akella Chendrasekhar, and his doctors group, the Iowa Clinic. Fry supported his wife's decision to have the operation, but now believes no one should have it. He knows many patients believe it is a lifesaver. "Those people haven't walked where we're walking," he said. "Let them walk in my shoes. Let them walk in my kids' shoes . . ." Following Leslie Fry's death, seven similar deaths at Methodist plus the death of an Iowa Clinic patient at the now-defunct Metropolitan Medical Center were disclosed. Most of the patients' surgeries were performed by Chendrasekhar, who now practices in Ohio. Last fall, the Iowa Clinic, Methodist and Chendrasekhar defended their records. They noted that the surgery is inherently risky, partly because of the health problems that commonly accompany obesity. Several national experts have said since then, however, that the string of deaths was one of the largest ever seen in a single gastric-bypass program. Smith said the program might return at Methodist. For now, Chendrasekhar's former partner, Dr. Denville Myrie, will perform the operations on Iowa Methodist patients who have already signed up. Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom Copyright ©2004 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was in Des Moines over the weekend. That was the front page article of the Sunday paper. Methodist Hospital had 7 deaths last year. Iowa has about 16 hospitals that are doing WLS. Very scary....talked about developing "centers of excellence" as exist for transplants, which would be a great idea, but would close down the smaller programs. It's all about $$$$$

This is a very sad situation. I did a lot of research before I had the surgery, and am so glad I spent the extra 2 hours on the road and went to Grinnell. My personal opinion is that this doctor did not have the experience to perform these anyway, and he was performing them lap. As far as I remember, each of these women died from leaks because he didn't get the bowel re-attached good. My doctor up front told me that he preferred to do this open because it really took a lot of talent and experience to perform them lap. He felt he could see better and do a more thorough job. He didn't bad mouth anyone that did them lap, he just felt he did better with them open. I remember when the stories first started coming out about the deaths of the first women. Conveniently that doctor disappeared to his native country, I believe it was India, for an extended visit with family. My next door neighbor had gastric surgery 20+ years ago and had a very rough time with it. For the last 18 years she has only been able to eat things such as mashed potatoes and ice cream. She decided to have it undone, and do the regular gastric bypass. Several of us tried and tried to talk her into going to Grinnell, but she felt comfortable at Methodist. Well, she ended up being there for four months because of leaks that caused infection. Anyway, I feel bad that seven women had to die before the hospital took notice. I'm glad they are no longer doing them.