Update on Allergan selling the Lap Band System

I was curious to the latest on Allergan selling the band, I couldn't find anything except for the end of June.  So I called them.

At this time they have no person or company that is interested in buying the Lap Band System.  They have no takers, none.  It has been up for sale x2 years now and they have nobody serious about buying the company.

It was posted in the past couple of days there was a new company that would be taking over the Lap Band and this was incorrect information.  They are not selling it to someone who will in turn sell bands to band mills only.  This was false information.

If you have any questions you can call Allergan yourself and they will give you the updates as they get them.  But as the person on the phone told me, "It's been for sale for 2 years now if that tells you anything."

This is very interesting to me, since I have a relative who works for Allergan, who has the Lap Band, and has informed me that they sold the Band several months ago.  I see nothing on the internet to verify my relative's story, though.  Hmmmm.

I must say that what you wrote makes sense to me.  I trust my relative, who seems to be in-the-know on the higher-up decisions at Allergan.  I would imagine that if a house takes 1-3 months in escrow to buy, a product like the Lap Band could take significantly longer.  And yes, a lower level consumer affairs person would not be authorized to comment on deals not finalized - if that person even knows that a deal was reached.

I actually hope Allergan does sell the band and soon.  They aren't exactly ethical people.  I read Simpsons nonsense and about the only thing he absolutely told the truth was regarding Allergan pushing sales and not aftercare.  That's very true.  With that said, that is their job to sell bands.  It is the doctor's job to sell the aftercare.

I know Simpson, he's a toad.  He's not the most honest of surgeons.  He claims Allergan removed something like 1100 surgeons doing a bait and switch routine.  That isn't exactly true.  Many surgeons just plain decline to do the band anymore because of the poor stats and high complications.  He also claims he's only removed 20 bands.  That is probably true, everyone else removes his bands.  If you are having band problems and you call their office requesting to have it removed you are scolded for not following the band rules,  Nothing, NOTHING is ever the fault of the band.  It is ALWAYS the fault of the patient.  Slips, erosion, band intolerance, all of it.  OF COURSE these people are going to go to someone else for band removal, why wouldn't they?  Besides, (public record here) I am pretty sure Simpson wins the contest for the most band deaths and highest med malpractice payouts.  Seriously, how credible is he?

Either way, the band is a dying breed.  The stats are already out there, Allergan isn't selling the band because they are selling a ton of them and making money.  They are selling it because people prefer sleeves.  Better weight loss, fewer complications, no maintenance.

Simpson also says ins co's were paying out over $100K per sleeve.  What a LOAD!  Not  true, never has been.  The truth is, ins co's pay for sleeves.  ;o)  There is always 2% of truth to what Simpson claims.

I remember when Simpson was losing a lot of business to Mexico.  He posted a photoshopped photo of a metal band claiming that was the Mexican band.  He swore up and down that he personally removed that band from a poor, suffering, patient.  Not quite true.  We all went looking through US surgeon websites and found six others with the same exact photoshopped photo and they all claimed they personally removed THAT band.  When we proved it was photoshopped and not even the real band within 24 hours Simpson removed the photo from his website.  HA!

Now I know where someone got their info that doctors didn't like doing the aftercare, it's Simpson's website.  Simpson charged my friend's ins co $600 per fill.  Tell me a doctor doesn't like that.  That adds up to about $2400 an hour.  I don't know of a single band surgeon that would turn that down.

Even for self pays, most surgeons hire a nurse or even a med asst to do fills and unfills.  Figure $100 a fill that is $400 an hour.  Pay the nurse $20/hr, no band surgeon is going to turn down that either.  And then you have re-ops and revisions... bands are a huge cash cow for surgeons.  It's the ethical surgeons that are saying no more.

Before you laugh to hard, you may want to read up on Christie's surgeon and his record.

Isn't THAT the truth! 

Thank you for bringing this up, I had not read anything about it until I Goggled it after your post.  Very sad but interesting.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/gov_christies_lap-band_surgeon.html

Nancy Q., you are too bold for your own good!  Be humble my friend, be humble for not a single one of us knows what lies in our paths!

You want a Lap Band, fine.  Go on and do it but don't be so critical of those of us who have had that journey and had the happy rug snatched from under us.  Do you really think we went into banding as "bitter"  . . . or "hopeful"? 

Actually at Dr. Fielding's practice they will fill, and fill, and fill and  fill your band and reposition and reposition (surgery), and re-band, and re-band.  They will not suggest any other WLS there it is all bands.  Dilation - fill some more, no problem just go ahead and put some bricks under your bed and one of those big sloped prescription pillows and take your PPI's long as you're skinny because stats matter most$$$! 

Now they are doing a partial plication and band (no slip fo sho ' just stomach torchure).  Oh and the surgeons almost never see you for your aftercare - in fact many never see them again after surgery  but I would put money on Gov. Christie seeing Dr. F. or the team of surgeons each and every time.  He has lots of celebrilties under his belt, even co-authored with some they get star treatment, they get press.

So lots of  lawsuits against this man - a young woman in her 20's died from obstruction.  Then there is some well know sports player I believe suing about his daughter.  Last I looked it was around 10 cases pending.

My sis throws the idea of getting a band around.  It ****** me off with all she has seen me go through BUT I'd support her 100%.  With that said, I wish you the absolute best.  I do however hope that you consider that people are not putting information out there to hurt you - it is to save you the agony that could be.

Now I am am thrilled to have my stomach sleeved but I am the type that would not recommend WLS to anyone.  It is a decision that one has to make for their own lifetime and it should be a very personal choice.  You want a band, you rock the hell out of it.  For me it was devastating to lose all my success especially when I was doing all the right things.

All Best,

Layla

Fantastic post!

That is without a doubt, the best and most informative post I have seen to date regarding Felding.

Thank you!

What in the world makes you think a bad surgeon gets their license revoked?  Are you really that naive?  I know a pediatrician who is a convicted pedophile in Maryvale,  Arizona and the board didn't revoke his license.  I know a bariatric surgeon in Phoenix, AZ that has lost 15 med mal cases and he didn't get his license revoked.  Whether or not you like it bad doctors don't typically have their licensing revoked.  Dr. Felding has multi med mal cases in two countries, he's been caught using unlicensed surgeons at New York University and a patient died because of it, one of his residents is suing him for firing her because she was the whisteblower and told NYU of the unlicensed surgeons he was using in their OR he and no doubt, she'll win that one and best of all, this doctor and his wife are the folks paid to do ... ready for it?  ALLERGAN studies!

No worries, I am sure when they do paid Allergan studies they are very ethical.  They wouldn't dream of being unethical with studies, just everything else.

Bad surgeons don't go to jail, sweetie.  That isn't how life works.  Bad surgeons pay more premiums for med mal insurance.

Want links?  Oh, I forgot.  You don't read links.  You know five banded people in your support group and they know more than science does about the band.  Heh.....