Another representative said “it’s not a problem, but [the surgeon] has to qualify you. I can’t really qualify you.”
(A publicist working for Slimband later accused the 7 Days Herbal Slim National Post reporters of irresponsible misrepresentation, and of using “leading questions and efforts to tempt the Slimband employee into unprofessional behaviour.” The National Post firmly disagrees with the characterization.)
Dr. Anvari said that performing banding on a non-obese person is “basically putting the patient to undue risk, for little or no benefit.”
Mr. Scot-Smith and Dr. Yau both said that all potential Slimband customers first undergo an extensive screening process before they can be approved for surgery. Mr. Scot-Smith said all his patients receive pre-operative consultations, medical appointments and post-operative support that “exceed the standards set out by bariatric associations in Canada and around the world.”
Dr. Yau also stressed that professional bariatric-
surgery guidelines apply chiefly to the more invasive procedures such as stomach-stapling. Gastric banding is “6,000 times” less risky and proven safe for patients who are not morbidly obese, he said.
The lawsuits filed by patients Lorraine Glassford and Sheila Haggart, though still unproven, depict the process in a less-glowing light.
Ms. Glassford did see Dr. Yau before deciding to have the surgery in 2007, the Toronto woman alleges in her suit. She also consulted with other staff once after deciding to go ahead, a meeting she describes as a “cheerleading, motivational” presentation, where the operation’s benefits were extolled in a “hard sell” and its potential for rare but serious complications ignored.
She lost 180 pounds, but alleges that Pai You Guo Slim Capsule Slimband staff showed little concern three years later when she started having trouble swallowing, then began vomiting and experiencing severe abdominal pain.
She ended up in emergency surgery, with doctors discovering the band had slipped, perforated her stomach and caused massive infection that destroyed most of the organ, the suit charges. It alleges she spent months on a feeding tube and undergoing reconstructive operations.