Lawyers say if you are considering weight loss surgery, you need to know this

A major law firm has revealed horror stories of obesity operations that have gone terribly wrong, and warned surgeons must stress the risks.

More than 12,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in Australia over the past five years and lawyers are concerned surgeons may be ‘brushing over’ potential risks.

A major Australian law firm is representing an increasing number of people — many of them young — after their weight loss surgeries have gone horrifically wrong.

Among the horror stories that have come to law firm Slater and Gordon are a Melbourne woman in her 20s who was hospitalised for almost six months because of complications following laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery and now cannot work and rarely leaves the house because she no longer has control of her bowels.

Another Melbourne woman, also in her 20s, suffered life-threatening complications on the operating table and had to be resuscitated before being transferred to a tertiary hospital for emergency surgery. She remained in intensive care for several days before being transferred to a ward and has been left with large and painful scars on her abdomen, limited abdominal strength and movement and experiences ongoing nerve pain down both arms. She also now suffers ongoing bladder urgency and frequent incontinence.

Lawyers are concerned some surgeons performing increasingly common and lucrative weight loss surgeries are brushing over the potential complications and dangers in pre-surgery consultations.

Slater and Gordon is assisting obesity surgery patients in pursuing negligence claims against the surgeon or surgeons involved in operations that have gone badly wrong.

Other particularly serious cases seen by Slater and Gordon include:

• A Queensland woman in her 40s who sought removal of a lap band and a gastric bypass, who was discharged from hospital despite reporting feeling critically unwell.

She was rushed to an emergency department just days’ later with potentially fatal sepsis and required emergency surgery. She also underwent several additional surgeries due to other complications and remained in hospital for months. She now experiences ongoing bowel irregularities, pain and obstructions, chronic stomach bloating and pain, food intolerances, mobility issues, depression and PTSD from the experience.

• A Canberra man in his 30s, who after undergoing gastric band surgery, had to have it reversed due to complications. Despite this, his surgeon recommended a sleeve gastrectomy, which resulted in a stricture of the stomach that required gastric bypass surgery. This too had serious complications and emergency surgery was required to treat a dangerous leak. The leak persisted and despite 10 additional operations and more than six months in hospital, the man experiences ongoing chronic pain, cramps, faecal incontinence, abdominal disfigurement and scarring, depression and anxiety.

Slater and Gordon medical law senior practice leader Naty Guerrero-Diaz said obesity surgery was on the rise and could have positive results for many people, but could also result in permanent and sometimes life-threatening injuries for some.

Potential complications of obesity surgeries include leaks, bleeds and perforated organs.

She said her firm was representing an increasing number of clients — many of them young people — who had undergone bariatric surgeries and had experienced adverse outcomes.

Many were pursuing negligence claims against the surgeon or surgeons involved, she said.

Ms Guerrero-Diaz said potential complications of obesity surgeries included leaks, bleeds and strictures, and perforated organs.

“Like all surgeries, weight loss surgeries carry serious health risks and things can a do

sometimes go wrong that can lead to severe and permanent injuries,” she said.

“Although we are able to obtain compensation for people in circumstances where we can prove the physical and psychological injuries they have suffered, no amount of money is going to change the debilitating conditions and injuries many of them have to learn to live with.”

Ms Guerrero-Diaz said while not everyone would experience bad outcomes, it was important that anyone considering such procedures knew the risks involved. She also highlighted the importance of surgeons properly outlining the potential risks to their patients prior to any operations taking place.

“Many of our clients say that their surgeon only brushed over the potential complications and gave them the impression that they had rarely experienced anything going wrong, so there was no need to go into detail about what might happen if things didn’t go according to plan,” she said.

“Ultimately, how one person responds to major surgery will be different to another, so it is really good practice to make sure everyone knows what they could be in for and how differently their lives may become if they are among the percentage of people who experience an adverse outcome.”

.How each person responds to major surgery will be different.

An analysis of data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows more than 12,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in Australia over the past five years.

Procedures include a gastric balloon – inserting a balloon into the stomach through the oesophagus and inflating it so there’s less room for food, or lap-band surgery – inserting an adjustable band around the upper portion of the stomach to reduce the amount of food that can be consumed.

More invasive procedures include laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery — using staples to create a smaller, upper stomach pouch restricting the amount of food able to be consumed and bypasses a portion of the bowel — or gastric sleeve surgeries, which restricts the amount of food patients can eat by removing 75 per cent of the stomach.

[e-mail]

Originally published as Lawyers say if you are considering weight loss surgery, you need to know this