"F.D.A. Lowers Minimum B.M.I. Requirement for Band"

Just saw this on Channel 5 news here.  As the article mentions, that means 600,000 additional North Texans are now eligible (I'm kinda surprised, though, that "Dr. Nick" says that WLS should be the very last option for the obese  ):    

  http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/health/FDA-Widens-Eligibility-for -Lap-Band-Surgery-116954223.html

I saw this news too.  Now I hope the insurance companies change their policies too.  My husband is hoping for WLS to help control his diabetes.  he is too "thin" now but with his current diabetes medication he cannot seem to gain the 17 lbs he needs to qualify with the insurance company.

LEANN-please do not encourage your husband to gain the weight. Wt gain for a Diabetic-for any reason-is never good-and insurance underwriters aren't stupid-they loook for things like "sudden" wt gain when approving WLSs. I've been a nurse 30+ yrs and a Diabetic 10+, and yes-the wt loss probably WILL help his DM-at least it did mine...but...if he's not "big enough" for WLS, that's not entirely a bad thing. To me, it says he's TRYING to maintain his health. Does he follow any kind food plan? Exercise plan? This is OBESITY help-not just SURGERY help--any advice/help we can offer, please ask-we're here for y'all!!

Gina AKA Nurse Diva

PAUL-I agree with Dr. Nick-and with anyone else who says WLS should be the last option-or at least one not entered into lightly. How many people do you and I personally know-or have at least "met" on OH, who had no idea what they were getting into, and have not had a successful post op life? I say KUDOS to Dr. Nick (and no-he wasn't my surgeon, so I'm not bias), for being honest and not just "in it for the money".

Paul, I am one of Dr. Nick's patients, so I guess I could be biased, but I don't see him on there advertising his clinic, and I wanted to ask you to please refrain from putting " " around any Doctor's names. To me, it is offensive... It's almost as if we are questioning that he is a doctor.

I'm glad the FDA has finally seen the light. And this article was not an ad about Dr. Nick, it was a news story. I'm excited for friends who were once "not fat enough"!!!! (See the appropriate use of " " ?) LOL. Thanks for sharing!

 Sorry, Kim ..  I certainly didn't mean to impune Dr. Nick's  qualifications by the use of the quotation marks in my post  ..  I know his many patients sometimes refer to him as "Dr. Nick" (as you just did) in a colloquial manner, like many of us do who are fond of our surgeons ("Dr. Antelmo" or "Dr. A." for my surgeon's patients).   Dr. Nick is a very fine surgeon.  The use of quotation marks  is gramatically correct when referring  to someone by a nickname rather than their given name, that's all.  

  And no, my post did not say aything about the news article being an adervtisement for his clinic or any particular WLS clinic ..  If anything, it was just the opposite, since, as I and Gina  pointed out, Dr. Nicholon does not encourage anyone to have WLS unless it is a last resort ..  That is very admifrable of him to be so candid and objective ..