Does anyone know what the National Institute of Health surgery is?

My husband is needing the LapBand and we have Kaiser in Northern CA (Napa) and his doctor said that he would have to have issues like high blood pressure and sleep apnea etc. It turns out that he does have high blood pressure(on meds), possible GERD and sleep apnea. His doctor said that he sent a referral to the Bariatric Center and they denied him because his BMI is not +35. His doctor said he didn't meet the guidelines of the NIH. What are the NIH guidelines for surgery and are they the same for Kaiser? Although he didn't say the NIH guidelines for Bariatric he said NIH guidelines for Surgery. Please, any comments would be very helpful. It seems to me like his dr controdicted himself and just doesn't want him to have the surgery. But we aren't giving up. thank you in advance. Kristy

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