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I don't have that answer, but I sincerely hope that there will be an in-depth investigation by either the FDA or the Department of Health & Human services, the entity behind the subpeona for Allergan due to the high rate of failure.

All righty, and this is precisely the reason I won't post on this site again. Have a nice day!!

I just wanted to post this for all of you who've had complications from your band. I was banded in 2008 and doing 'okay' until late 2011. By 'okay' I mean that I had lost about 100 lbs and sitting on a plateau for over a year. Mid-year 2011 I began experiencing pains in my upper stomach after I'd eaten. Pain got worse so I started to eliminate certain foods from my diet. By September 2011 I was on an all-liquid diet and barely able to walk upright. I know now that I have a high tolerance to pain because I'd put up with this for over 3 months, but come October I'd had enough and went into the ER. The next day they did an endoscopy and found the band was over 80% inside my stomach and 5 days later the band was out. Btw, the same surgeon who banded me in 2008 was the same surgeon who took it out. He advised me that he no longer performs banding due to the sheer number of complications from not only his patients but those of his colleagues. So basically I'm posting this because I wanted to not only share my story but I'd also like to hear from you ex-bandsters about your experiences. And if you have absolutely no problems with your band and think band erosion is a myth or caused by my failure to use it as a tool, you've evidently wandered here by mistake & please don't leave any snarky comments. Thank You.

I work w/BCBS multi-state and I would urge you to call the number on the back of your ID card & speak with someone in customer service to find out specifics on weight-loss surgery as it relates to your individual policy. If you are approved please take specific notes and if possible get either a call reference number or an auth #, also make note of the date and time of the call and the CSR's name. Hope this helps!

I too am so sorry for what you're going through. I was banded 2008 and de-banded 2011 due to severe erosion. They had found the band was over 80% inside my stomach and causing excruciating pain, rightfully so. I've been keeping up with the recent news of Allergan's subpeona from the Health and Human Services Dept here in the US. Btw, Reuters and Bloomberg News are great sites for info on the band. I hate to say it but I believe the FDA will do a forced recall on this product which will result in a massive class-action lawsuit.

Here's the complete article, hope this helps: Long-term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding Jacques Himpens, MD; Guy-Bernard Cadière, MD, PhD; Michel Bazi, MD; Michael Vouche, MD; Benjamin Cadière, MD; Giovanni Dapri, MD Arch Surg. 2011;146(7):802-807. doi:10.1001/archsurg.2011.45Objective To determine the long-term efficacy and safetyof laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) for morbidobesity. Design Clinical assessment in the surgeon's office in2009 (12 years after LAGB). Setting University obesity center in Brussels, Belgium. Patients A total of 151 consecutive patients who had benefitedfrom LAGB between January 1, 1994, and December 31, 1997, werecontacted for evaluation. Intervention Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. Main Outcome Measures Mortality rate, number of majorand minor complications, number of corrective operations, numberof patients who experienced weight loss, evolution of comorbidities,patient satisfaction, and quality of life were evaluated. Results The median age of patients was 50 years (range,28-73 years). The operative mortality rate was zero. Overall,the rate of follow-up was 54.3% (82 of 151 patients). The long-termmortality rate from unrelated causes was 3.7%. Twenty-two percentof patients experienced minor complications, and 39% experiencedmajor complications (28% experienced band erosion). Seventeenpercent of patients had their procedure switched to laparoscopicRoux-en-Y gastric bypass. Overall, the (intention-to-treat)mean (SD) excess weight loss was 42.8% (33.92%) (range, 24%-143%).Thirty-six patients (51.4%) still had their band, and theirmean excess weight loss was 48% (range, 38%-58%). Overall, thesatisfaction index was good for 60.3% of patients. The quality-of-lifescore (using the Bariatric Analysis and Reporting Outcome System)was neutral. Conclusion Based on a follow-up of 54.3% of patients,LAGB appears to result in a mean excess weight loss of 42.8%after 12 years or longer. Of 78 patients, 47 (60.3%) were satisfied,and the quality-of-life index was neutral. However, becausenearly 1 out of 3 patients experienced band erosion, and nearly50% of the patients required removal of their bands (contributingto a reoperation rate of 60%), LAGB appears to result in relativelypoor long-term outcomes. <br clear="right">Author Affiliation: The European School of Laparoscopic Surgery, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Saint Pierre University Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.

I was banded in 2008 at a 'Center of Excellence'. Was extremely happy with the band as I'd lost about 100 lbs my first year. Two weeks ago my band was removed via emergency surgery as the band had eroded so bad it was over 80% inside my stomach. I encourage you to research, research, research and ask a butt-load of questions from your surgeon and your PCP. As part of my research after my band failed I found this article in JAMA from July 2011: Based on a follow-up of 54.3% of patients,LAGB appears to result in a mean excess weight loss of 42.8%after 12 years or longer. Of 78 patients, 47 (60.3%) were satisfied,and the quality-of-life index was neutral. However, becausenearly 1 out of 3 patients experienced band erosion, and nearly50% of the patients required removal of their bands (contributingto a reoperation rate of 60%), LAGB appears to result in relativelypoor long-term outcomes. I also want to add that my surgeon who put in my band (and took it out) no longer performs banding because of the sheer volume of failures resulting in explantation. I wish you luck and if the band is for you, I hope it works perfectly!

Just wanted to share this with you as I found this tucked away in my lapband folder: Unsafe Medications Following LapBand Surgery: Avoid high doses, or continual low doses, of NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Mobic, Motrin, Naprosin, Ibuprofen, etc. These are felt to be unsafe due to the risk of gastric ulceration. Check with your doctor before starting any steroid medication...

This kinda made me curious so I dug out all my original paperwork from the surgery, thank goodness I'm a pack rat, and found a half-page sheet tucked in the middle which states 'Unsafe Medications Following LapBand Surgery'. And this was never discussed during the seminar before I got banded. Like you said, the only thing about meds was if the pill is too big & might get stuck you should either switch to chewables or cut them in half. Oh well, like they say - If I can't set a good example, at least I can be a horrible warning!

No nsaids of any type, this causes stomach irritation and decreases the mucus lining of the stomach. Be very careful because like I had mentioned before, I had been on anti-inflammatories for years prior and since being banded and with the band you don't (or at least I didn't) feel any irritation. Before being banded I'd been on a different nsaid for arthritis and had to stop because of heartburn and stomach irritation. Couldn't feel it though with the band, strange huh? And thanks for the kinds words, can't wait to get it over with!

Yes, been on anti-inflammatories for years before & after getting banded. And after researching this on the internet found that it could be a major cause of erosion as well as being banded too tightly. Never knew, never ever knew.

I don't know, but everything I've read on the internet (gotta love all the self-diagnosis sites) shows erosion related to lap band slippage which leads to prolapse. I've done a loooooooot of reading these past weeks about everything that could go wrong with the band and so far haven't found anything where it shows the band cutting through the stomach wall. I'm just so pissed off that this was never mentioned in all the literature, all the warnings about lap banding. I'll know more next week by hook or by crook just how this happened because I want to warn people if there's a danger or if there's something I did wrong, or not.

So, I had my band put in 2008 and thought everything was doing fine with it but for the past 2 weeks have been having the WORST pain in the upper stomach above the band. Had to go on all-liquid diet because solids just hurt too much. Well, found out this morning after having tummy scoped that the band had basically worn through the stomach and has basically dissected it. I would post pictures, but they're pretty disgusting - you can see the gray band sitting half-way inside my stomach. So next week I'm having the blasted thing removed, but was wondering if anyone else has had this happen before & could shed some light as to why this happened. Thanks guys!!