Bom Chan

Hello everybody, This is Bom Chan of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER. A doctor recently emailed me to complain about his failures or poor results with the BIB (BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon) System. FAQs about the BIB System are available at www.totalobesitysolutions.com. I decided to post my response to his email on this forum because I believe this information may also be useful for patients who are deciding on or have undergone weight loss procedures or bariatric surgery. What is in my email response is not something which one can refer to as “rocket science” or something that is written in stone. These are simply my observations and honest opinions of certain facts about weight loss. The BIB is an efficient weight loss tool but it is only a tool, just like the Lap-Band. A tool is something that helps or assists us in performing a certain task which may be difficult or close to impossible to perform. That is my layman’s definition of what a tool is and the BIB is nothing more than a tool, albeit a very good one, that may assist a patient in reaching his or her weight loss journey because losing weight is difficult. Why? Because of HUNGER, CRAVINGS, and OVEREATING coupled with INACTIVITY. We try to resolve HUNGER with an implant that creates early fullness, resolve CRAVINGS by inhibiting the production of the hunger hormone ghreline when an implant is present, resolve OVEREATING by Diet-Behavior Modification. INACTIVITY, this we try to resolve by encouraging patients to be more active by doing things and getting busy and not think only about food. Indulge in some form of physical activity like walking to and fro destinations that are 15 to 20 minutes away instead of using the car, doing house chores, watching less TV that comes complete with TV dinners and snacks. Getting physical but not necessarily only going to the gym. In recent years, there were a number of trends in bariatric surgery and one of them is the sleeve gastrectomy. Simply put, sleeve gastrectomy or sleeve resection involves stapling of the stomach to make it more like a tube rather than a bag in order to hold less food. I am not saying that sleeve gastrectomy is an inferior procedure but let us look at it in the proper perspective. Proponents of the sleeve would say that if a person does not want an implant in the body (e.g. BIB or Lap-Band), then he should opt for the sleeve. I asked those doctors in a public forum how they define “implant.” They did not know where I was getting at so I told them that yes the BIB (ORBERA in certain regions) and the Lap-Band are implants but so are the rows of titanium staples that are used in sleeve gastrectomy. Whatever object that does not exist inside the human body, is not a part of the human body and is placed inside the human body is technically an implant. So sleeve gastrectomy uses implants in the form of titanium staples and also gastric bypass in the form of non-resorbable sutures. With regard to the Lap-Band, the Lap-Band is long-term implant made of medical-grade silicone that is hypoallergenic and it interfaces with our physiology to act as part of our system. For example, when a person has a tooth cavity and the cavity is taken out and replaced with a dental filling, in time the filling which is an implant becomes the tooth and when a person bites into a sandwich, he does not make the distinction whether it is the tooth or the filling in the tooth that is mechanically breaking down the piece of food. That is what happens with Lap-Band, the Lap-Band restricts food intake and becomes like part of the stomach in its function. That is not the case of the BIB. An intragastric balloon such as the BIB, which is a temporary implant that stays inside the stomach for 6 months, only occupies the space which is normally occupied by food. A clinical study was made that compared the BIB System with Sleeve Gastrectomy. Fast forward – the winner is of course Sleeve Gastrectomy. The conclusion of the paper was that patients who had the sleeve lost more weight than patients who had the BIB. This is like saying a Ferrari is faster in 0-60 miles per hour than a bicycle. The Sleeve Gastrectomy is surgical and whether it is performed laparoscopically or minimally-invasive surgery, it is still surgery. The BIB is non-invasive. Only a gastroscope enters the mouth and down to the stomach and the BIB is placed in the stomach endoscopically without surgery. A 20 to 30 minute procedure which was originally indicated to size down super-obese patients before they undergo more invasive bariatric procedures or elective surgeries. Elective surgeries are surgeries that are important but are not emergencies therefore subject to choice or election by either the patient or doctor. An example being the surgical removal of the gall bladder, which is called a cholesistectomy, for the treatment of symptomatic gallstones. There is no magic pill in bariatrics or weight loss procedures. There are patients who failed in the Lap-Band, primarily because of lack of follow up with the bariatric surgeon, and opted for the gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. There are also patients who failed in the gastric bypass because the bypassed stomach increased in size over the years and the patient could tolerate more food; and, unlike the Lap-Band, the gastric bypass is not adjustable. Like Carnie Wilson, of the singing group Wilson Philips, who had a gastric bypass 12 years ago, lost the weight and gained it back, and is now having a Lap-Band. In relation to the sleeve gastrectomy where proponents claim that no follow ups are required; that is incorrect. There are risks involved with the sleeve gastrectomy like for example staple leaks and these should be detected under post-operative management. In several scientific studies, successes of bariatric procedures have a direct correlation with post-operative management and support. Before we forget, my email response to the doctor goes as follows: Dear doctor, Thank you for your response. I fully understand what you mean. In relation to the BIB, there are successes and failures because of a numberof things. We had a BIB patient (here in the Philippines) who was 25 pounds overweight and she was happy with the BIB which made her lose the 25 pounds in 6 months, after then she had consecutive BIBs to maintain her desired weight. (Asians have higher levels of body fat as compared to Caucasians. At certain BMI levels which are considered as “Overweight” for Caucasian patients, the same BMI levels may well be “Obese Class 1” already if it were for Asians. It would have been more cost effective for the patient just to go straight for the Lap-Band, but she refused to undergo any kind of surgery.) We had one case where the patient lost 72 pounds and she maintained the weight loss after BIB removal. We had an American patient who lost 102 pounds in 6 months which was one of our best results locally. After the removal he regained 25 pounds but was still quite happy with the end results. We also had a strange case where the patient complained that she did not lose weight (this was a BIB workshop subject/patient) but claimed that her hypertension and diabetes type 2 went into remission and were controlled. She also lost the aches and pains in the back and on the knees and ankles. Perhaps she did lose some weight. But when the workshop was held some time in 2004, the focus was more on the technical or gastroenterology side of BIB placement and the patient did not follow up with the doctor. We had 2 cases of failures like early removal of the BIB after one week because the patient could not tolerate the discomfort and a case where a patient lost 45 pounds but gained all the weight back after the BIB was removed. I always make it a point to tell our patients that after they lose the weight, they have to realize that at a lower BMI, they do not need as much food to sustain bodily functions so they should try to adhere to eating less food. All in all, I would say that quite a big majority of patients who had BIBs got what they expected and were happy with the results. The BIB System is not a magic pill that will make an obese patient lose weight even though he forces himself to overeat even when he is full. We should be honest to our patients and not give them false hopes. While we are still waiting for the magic pill to be invented, if there is indeed one, we believe that the BIB is still one of the best weight loss tool or option for temporary weight loss (after weight is lost, the patient has to rely on good eating habits and physical activity to maintain normal weight). It would be best if the patient who wants a BIB discuss the matter thoroughly with the doctor and the doctor explains to the patient what to expect. What we are aiming to achieve is a "Diet-Behavior Modification" or change in behavioral patterns of eating. But if patient still overeats even when he if full, he vomits and therefore making it a "Forced Behavior Modification", meaning if the patient is full, he should be cautioned not to continue eating otherwise he would feel sick. A patient with the BIB should be given a hypocaloric diet composed of 1,200 calories a day which is manageable. That is the only time the body will revert to stored fat, both peripheral and subcutaneous, as fuel for energy. Patient education and follow up is advisable to get good results. If we place a BIB that is too small, like 450cc, the patient may not feel any discomfort but it may also not make him full. If we put a BIB that is too big, like 700cc, the patient may lose a lot of weight but it may be an awful experience, which feels like indigestion, and the patient may want to have it removed immediately. We had a patient who wanted to have the BIB removed after 1 week because of no apparent reason. She did not complain of pain or discomfort but immediately after the BIB was removed, she went straight to a restaurant and ordered a big bowl of noodle soup, dumplings and the works because she just wanted to enjoy eating a lot. This leads us to think about the questions that bariatric surgeons should ask their patients (and for us to introspect) : 1.) How serious and dedicated are you in wanting to lose the weight? 2.) How important is it for you to lose the weight? 3.) Do you envision yourself living a healthy lifestyle even before you have reached your ideal normal weight? Some doctors put 600cc to all patients as part of their protocol. Preferably, the fill volume depends on the size (and shape) of the stomach and the balloon should touch the anterior and posterior part of the stomach inside. It should be big enough because the stomach has stretch receptors that give signals to the brain that the patient is full; a signal to stop eating. We have placed BIBs as big as 700cc (of saline solution volume ) in some patients who had very big stomachs. And it is also the weight of the saline solution, the heaviness, that creates early fullness. Same reason why intragastric balloons filled with air has never been proven to be successful. The design of the BIB is a perfected design after groups of medical practitioners following a convention held in Tampa Springs, Florida years ago concluded that unlike the old Garren-Edwards Bubble (air-filled) which gave unsuccessful results, the design of the ideal intragastric balloon (BIB System) should be perfectly round, adjustable in size (400cc to 700cc), able to last for 6 months, made of high-grade medical silicone, filled with saline solution for the weight, and have a radiopaque self-sealing valve. A BIB doctor once told me that what he does is to make the BIB large enough to create some sensation close to discomfort but not excessively uncomfortable and he manages it with a little PPI (proton pump inhibitor) only when necessary. His patients lose 20 pounds to 70 pounds depending on the excess weight of the particular patient and adherence to protocol. I hope that this would give some insight to your practice and contribute to more successful results with your patients to come. With kind regards, Bom CHAN Head of Obesity Solutions BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER Email: bom@aemed.biz Website: www.totalobesitysolutions.com Thanks for reading!!! P.S. A patient who used to be a plus-size model with a pretty face asked me what would happen if she had a bariatric procedure. I told her 3 things: She may lose a lot of weight, and if she does, She will lose her job as a plus-size model and may not qualify as a fashion model because she may not meet the criteria, She will live a healthy normal life and enjoy doing things that she could not do when she was severely obese. She replied: “Sounds good! So when do we start?”

Hello again, I was wondering if you folks have visited the LAP-BAND AP SYSTEM paid ad under these pages that go "Visit theLAP-BAND AP System Resource Center"? If you haven't, please do because you would be surprized to find a lot of information on the Lap-Band AP and also LAP-BAND AP vs the competition. Sometimes, and I suppose most of the time, it's better to know the truth. It's sad that here in the Philippines a lot of products that leave a lot to be desired hide under "Brand X" or in the case of gastric banding it's either "Brand S" or "Brand R" or "Brand M". The Lap-Band System has gone mainstream in the Philippines. If you follow the website of the LAP-BAND AP Resource Center you would find out that candidate for Lap-Band surgery starts at BMI 30 with comorbidities. The ballpark figure for a Lap-Band surgery in the Philippines is about PhP400,000.00 more or less depending on the length of surgery because cost of anaesthesia/anaesthesiologist may go up or down. I have posted topics in the past and a forum member requested a thread lock. If I have inadvertently violated forum rules, I apologize for that. It's just that I believe that the Filipino patient and all patients deserve to know the truth and get all the information that may help them make a good decision. That is exactly what we are here for. Thanks and kind regards, Bom Chan Head of Obesity Solutions BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER LP06 MedicalPlaza Makati, Amorsolo cor Dela Rosa Sts., Legaspi Village, Makati 1229, PHILIPPINES cell: 0917-LAP-BAND (527-2263) email: bom@aemed.biz website: www.totalobesitysolutions.com

Hello everybody, I am Bom Chan, head of obesity solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER (www.totalobesitysolutions.com) here in the Philippines. I made a similar post under "General Discussion" of lapbandtalk last February 28, 2011. You may wish to read about that topic (What everyone needs to know about the term"LAP-BAND") but I will be repeating a few of the things I have previously written. Let's start from the beginning, the term "bariatrics" is derived from the Greek work "baros" which means "pressure". Bariatric surgery means "weight loss surgery" because obesity or excess weight puts a lot of pressure on an individual; pressure on his back, his knees, his health, and his self-esteem. There are different forms of bariatric surgeries but the gold-standard of bariatric surgery is the LAP-BAND surgery. On the other hand, the BIB System(BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon System) is a non-surgical (endoscopic gastroplasty or placing of an intragastric balloon in the stomach through the mouth) bariatric procedure. LAP-BAND surgeries in the Philippines are presently being performed by 2 (TWO) bariatric surgeons in 3 (THREE) centers of excellence in Metro Manila, namely Dr. Edward Oliveros of 1.) St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City and 2.) St. Luke's Global City and Dr. Ferdinand Samonte of 3.) Delos Santos (DLS-STI) Medical Center in Quezon City. LAP-BAND surgeries are NOT performed in aesthetic centers in the Philippines as one may think from doing internet searches. LAP-BAND surgeries are also NOT being performed in Metro Luzon by other surgeons in other medical centers not listed above. The term "LAP-BAND" and "LAGB" are proprietary and these are registered trademarks/intellectual properties of Allergan Incorporated of Santa Monica, California, USA. "LAGB" means "LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding" as opposed to other brands of adjustable gastric banding. "LAGB" does not mean "laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding." I wish to stress the importance of terminolgies here because it is just too convenient to say "LAGB" is a better option than other invasive forms of bariatric surgeries, use the data of the LAP-BAND to support the claims of safety and effectiveness, and then use another brand of gastric banding because the surgeon "thought" that the term "LAGB" is used to describe a surgical procedure. FYI, the generic term for the surgical procedure is "Gastric Banding" not "LAGB". When a patient decides to have a Lap-Band surgery, he should ask the surgeon the following things: 1.) Is the surgeon using a LAP-BAND manufactured by Allergan, Incorporated? 2.) Can the patient have a look at the box prior to surgery? The LAP-BAND comes in a box sealed in plastic and comes with the following markings on the box: a.) ALLERGAN b.) LAP-BAND AP System Large REF.: B-20265 or LAP-BAND AP System Small REF.: B-20260 c.) SN (or the Serial Number) 3.) Can the patient keep the opened box AFTER the surgery. (This is pushing it a little bit, but who knows?) When a person says that all bands are the same, that sounds to me very much like all watches tell the same time. The LAP-BAND is the ONLY gastric banding that possesses all of the following: a.) USFDA approved since 2001 b.) More than 600,000 procedures performed worldwide c.) Supported by more than 1,600 scientific papers Thanks for reading. Warm regards, Bom Chan P.S. I wanted to post this topic under Philippine Lap-Band Support Group last night but I clicked on the wrong button that's why this post also appears in the Elsewhere Forum. My apologies.

Hello everybody, I am Bom Chan, head of obesity solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER (www.totalobesitysolutions.com) here in the Philippines. I made a similar post under "General Discussion" of lapbandtalk last February 28, 2011. You may wish to read about that topic (What everyone needs to know about the term"LAP-BAND") but I will be repeating a few of the things I have previously written. Let's start from the beginning, the term "bariatrics" is derived from the Greek work "baros" which means "pressure". Bariatric surgery means "weight loss surgery" because obesity or excess weight puts a lot of pressure on an individual; pressure on his back, his knees, his health, and his self-esteem. There are different forms of bariatric surgeries but the gold-standard of bariatric surgery is the LAP-BAND surgery. On the other hand, the BIB System(BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon System) is a non-surgical (endoscopic gastroplasty or placing of an intragastric balloon in the stomach through the mouth) bariatric procedure. LAP-BAND surgeries in the Philippines are presently being performed by 2 (TWO) bariatric surgeons in 3 (THREE) centers of excellence in Metro Manila, namely Dr. Edward Oliveros of 1.) St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City and 2.) St. Luke's Global City and Dr. Ferdinand Samonte of 3.) Delos Santos (DLS-STI) Medical Center in Quezon City. LAP-BAND surgeries are NOT performed in aesthetic centers in the Philippines as one may think from doing internet searches. LAP-BAND surgeries are also NOT being performed in Metro Luzon by other surgeons in other medical centers not listed above. The term "LAP-BAND" and "LAGB" are proprietary and these are registered trademarks/intellectual properties of Allergan Incorporated of Santa Monica, California, USA. "LAGB" means "LAP-BAND Adjustable Gastric Banding" as opposed to other brands of adjustable gastric banding. "LAGB" does not mean "laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding." I wish to stress the importance of terminolgies here because it is just too convenient to say "LAGB" is a better option than other invasive forms of bariatric surgeies, use the data of the LAP-BAND to support the claims of safety and effectiveness, and then use another brand of gastric banding because the surgeon "thought" that the term "LAGB" is used to describe a surgical procedure. FYI, the generic term for the surgical procedure is "Gastric Banding" not "LAGB". When a patient decides to have a Lap-Band surgery, he should ask the surgeon the following things: 1.) Is the surgeon using a LAP-BAND manufactured by Allergan, Incorporated? 2.) Can the patient have a look at the box prior to surgery? The LAP-BAND comes in a box sealed in plastic and comes with the following markings on the box: a.) ALLERGAN b.) LAP-BAND AP System Large REF.: B-20265 or LAP-BAND AP System Small REF.: B-20260 c.) SN (or the Serial Number) 3.) Can the patient keep the opened box AFTER the surgery. (This is pushing it a little bit, but who knows?) When a person says that all bands are the same, that sounds to me very much like all watches tell the same time. The LAP-BAND is the ONLY gastric banding that possesses all of the following: a.) USFDA approved since 2001 b.) More than 600,000 procedures performed worldwide c.) Supported by more than 1,600 scientific papers Thanks for reading. Warm regards, Bom Chan

Hello everybody, I hope I am allowed within forum rules to take this opportunity to introduce myself and what I do, as my position tells a lot about the veracity and importance of the information that I would like to share. I am Bom Chan and I am the Head of Obesity Solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER (Kosher and after I exhausted all means by having asked all our contact persons in Allergan Health and nobody seemed to have the information, I decided to post a question in lapbandtalk and I was very happy and thankful to get a lot of replies from the Jewish community in the States. The basic thing that everyone needs to know about the word "LAP-BAND" is that Lap-Band is a registered trademark of Allergan Health (formerly INAMED Health), which is a division of Allergan Incorporated. The Lap-Band comes in the following sizes/style namely 9.75cm, 10cm, 11cm, VG, APS and APL. In the Philippines, we use the APS and APL. Allergan is a global company that manufactures Botox and products for ophthalmology, facial aesthetics, breast augmentation and reconstruction. Inamed Corporation was acquired by Allergan Incorporated a couple of years ago. Why is the Lap-Band considered superior to other adjustable gastric bandings? The reason for this are: it was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2001 and was named as "One of the Significant Device Breakthroughs" by the FDA Office of Device Evaluation. To date, more than 600,000 Lap-Band procedures were performed and the Lap-Band is supported by more than 1,600 scientific studies. In the scientific studies published in medical journals, the term "LAGB" is used to refer to the Lap-Band® Adjustable Gastric Banding as different from other bands like the SAGB which refers to the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Banding. In many parts of the world, there exist unethical medical practitioners who intentionally deceive their patients by referring to LAGB as "laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding". They sometimes use the data of the Lap-Band or what they like to call "LAGB" as a safer alternative to other bariatric procedures like the gastric bypass. They even sometimes use Lap-Band brochures to entice patients to undergo the procedure. When the patient is convinced that LAGB is the way to go, they undergo surgery and the unscrupulous bariatric surgeon places a different brand of gastric banding. Over the past years, there were a number of international patients who tried to contact me to get information on doctors in the Philippines who could perform their "fills". According to them they need their "Lap-Band" to be adjusted. When our bariatric surgeon, Dr. Edward Oliveros, tried to view the orientation of the access port by fluoroscope, he was astonished to see that there were 3 patients who had a different kind of gastric band access port. After the fills, he asked the patients whether they were sure that they had the "Lap-Band" as in the original "LAP-BAND SYSTEM", sadly, they said "yes". Those 3 patients had fallen victim to unscrupulous doctors who use the word "lapband" or "lapbanding" as generic terms, while the correct generic term for such a procedure is either "gastric banding" or "adjustable gastric banding". This is the reason why we get some complaints from foreign patients telling us that how come the price of Lap-Band surgery in the Philippines is not as low as in other countries. Sometimes I just reply by saying that I do not have any idea how a Lap-Band surgery can go so low in a certain country when 50% of their published price is already the cost of the Lap-Band device. The big question is: How about the professional fees of the surgeon, his assistant, the anaesthesiologist, the cost of anaesthesia, the operating room fee, the private room where the patient stays after the procedure and other charges? Don't all of these count in the package price? I believe that honesty should be the Number 1 with any medical practitioner. To tell the truth, to be transparent as to say not only what the patients like to hear but also the honest facts. Like in many countries except for the United States, the BIB (BioEnterics Intragastric Balloon) System or what they call the Orbera System in Australia has been quite a popular alternative to weight loss because of its non-surgical nature involving placement of a saline-filled balloon in the stomach endoscopically for six months to reduce hunger. In some parts of the world, unethical individuals try to deceive the public by calling an intragastric balloon of a Brazilian company the "Brazilian intragastric balloon" or "also a bib" to piggyback on the popularity of the BIB System. On an ending note to all patients, believe that it is your right to ask questions and to get polite answers from your bariatic surgeons because at the end of the day, it is your health, your financial resources, and your happiness that matters. You are the patient and we should all be serving you. Wishing you all the best of health. Thank you for reading. Warm regards, Bom

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate this very much. Warm regards, Bom:)

Hello everyone, I wish to thank all of you for sharing your ideas and opinions. I appreciate this very much. This has certainly been very informative and I will share your comments with our Jewish patient when I see him soon. Kind regards, Bom

Hello folks, I am Bom Chan, Head of Obesity Solutions of the BIB & LAP-BAND CENTER in the Philippines. We had a Jewish patient who was asking whether the Lap-Band was Kosher or not. I could not find the answer from sites like Rabbi.com. I would appreciate it very much if anyone could provide me some answers. Thank you in advance. Kind regards, Bom

Hello Jacqui, I have to agree with a lot of the things you wrote. You're correct, basically the Filipino doctors cater to a lot of patients from Guam, Saipan, and other neighboring Asian countries. They do have patients coming from Europe and Australia. For patients in the U.S., Mexico, of course, is just a drive away. I would suppose that the Philippines has a niche market such that it caters to some patients who come to the Philippines for a vacation to visit relatives or probably those who are curious about the country. All the best, Bom

Happy New Year to all!!! Just taking a little time to help provide some information to those who are interested in having the LAP-BAND surgery performed overseas, like in the Philippines. Filipino LAP-BAND surgeons are trained by INAMED surgeons like Prof. Paul O'Brien, Dr. Richard Gilhome and Dr. Chris Hensman of Australia and one of your favorites, Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere. The most popular LAGB in the Philippines is still the LAP-BAND, both the 10cm band and the VG. A few surgeons have tried experimenting with the Swedish band and are now having problems with erosion. The Midband has been out of the market for some time. The BIB System is also gaining popularity in the Philippines. This is the Bio-Enterics Intragastric Balloon, a 15-minute non-surgical procedure which is performed endoscopically and is intended to offer patients weight loss of 30 to 60 pounds in 6 months. We have had very good results with the BIB, 72, 92, and even 102 pounds weight loss in 6 months had been observed. But for sustained permanent weight loss, of course the LAP-BAND is still the way to go.:confused: Kind regards, Bom Chan

Hello everyone, I am Bom Chan of AEMED, INC, the Philippine distributor of INAMED Corporation which manufactures the LapBand. I would like to invite everyone to visit some of our LapBand websites for Asia and the Philippines. Those who are interested in having the surgery performed in Asia or simply learn about the problem of obesity in the region can log on to www.lapbandasia.com. Here you can find a host of Asian countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Hongkong, Malaysia, South Korea, India and China that support LapBand surgery. We also have a LapBand website for the Philippines and that is www.rxpinoy.com/lap-band/index.html. We have a number of experienced LapBand surgeons in the Philippines. One is Dr. Hil Dineros who is the pioneer of bariatric surgery in the Philippines. He was trained under Dr. Frering and had started with the Midband, which is the French band, but has now concentrated on using the LapBand exclusively. Dr. Dineros has performed quite a number of foreign patients from Guam and other countries. We also have Dr. Ferdinand Samonte who is the pioneer of LapBand surgery in the Philippines. Dr. Samonte has trained under Prof. Paul O'Brien, Dr. Ariel Ortiz Lagardere and Dr. Jose Afonso Sallet. We have been getting a lot of inquiries from all over the world, some of the inquiries are about LapBand surgery in the Philippines and others are about doctors in other countries such as Europe and as far as South Africa. We are always more than happy to answer their questions or direct them to the person-in-charge from INAMED Health. FYI, my email address is bom@aemed.ph. Thank you all for reading. Cheers, Bom

I have recently spoken with Dr. Hil Dineros and he told me that interested parties can reach him through email address: hildineros@yahoo.com or his cell phone at (63) 917 822 88 90. Cheers.

Hello and warm greetings from the Philippines. I am Bom Chan, the Philippine distributor of the LapBand. If you still need the contact details of Dr. Dineros, kindly e-mail me at bom@aemed.ph. I will be more than happy to be of service to you.