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I am so sorry to hear that you are going through this? What have they said about you only losing 10lbs? Is there another medical team that you can get care with? Im not very familiar with the slimband

I was banded in August 2013. I had my first fill two weeks ago. She put in 1 and told me to wait a res minutes in the waiting area to see if I could get water down. This being my first fill I had no idea what I should be feeling so I was delighted to sip water and feel fine. Fast coward a couple of days and I feel zero restriction. I called and asked if I could get another fill and have heard nothing. I paid a lot of money ( slimbAnd with no insurance) and I feel like I has to fight for a fill. I paid close to 20 I and I know slimbAnd has their hands full with Dr Yau but I am really frustrated. The customer service has been terrible and I would not recommend this company to anyone. I have lost 10 pounds and feeling kind of lost.

Hi All, Does anyone know the date of when Slimband was established? day/month/year? Myself and several others have called Slimband and have yet to get an answer from them. Not sure what the big secret is about. If you know, could you please email me at 2014takeaction@gmail.com or respond to this post? Thanks, Kat

Also, If you are not seeing replies to your posts concerning Slimband, I wanted to let you know that I have seen very few people from Canada here. The few that I have seen are all Smart Shape clients (like myself).

As you are all likely to know, there's been a lot a backlash about Slimband in the past week or so, especially since Yau resigned. As a TLBCer, I've been told that I'm no longer being supported by Slimband nor are they going to provide treatment in the future, for fills, defills, etc. I was told that they were looking to refer us to another clinic. I sent an email to Slimband to request more information about this and in the past they have always been prompt with their responses but I have yet to hear back from them. I'm sure there's a lot of people concerned about what's going on but I'm confident that TLBCer's and/or Yau's patients are not their priority anymore. In fact, they have said that we (TLBCer's/Yau's patients) are no longer their responsibility. So now that our surgeon is gone and our money has been cashed, we are being left out in the cold. I feel completely lost, confused and hopeless.

Please read this post carefully. Some of you have been following the TLBC/Slimband/Dr. Yau thread on BP over the past week and I wanted to give everyone an update. As one of 3 organizers of the 2014takeaction@gmail.com email account, I can assure you that we have had an overwhelming amount of people contacting us to offer their support and interest in joining with us. These people include those banded by TLBC, some by Slimband and even former TLBC/Slimband staff members. So we’ve got a solid group and there’s a high potential for growth once we spread the word and more people go online. All of us are either interested in pursuing legal action or are looking for more information. On concerns relate to how Slimband has treated/mistreated us as TLBCer’s/Slimbanders. At this time, myself and two other woman are looking around for a lawyer who will represent us. Two of us are in Toronto and this is likely where we will be looking. But before we contact or meet with a lawyer we wanted to do a bit of leg work first. That’s where all of you come in. If you are interested I would a statement which would speak to your specific TLBC/Slimband story/experience. Please include whatever information you think is important. Please also include what concerns you have with how things are being handled. These statements will help us show/tell the lawyer what are concerns are and that there are a lot of us who want to take action. The only people who will see these statements are myself, the other 2 organizers and the lawyer. Please do not share you statements on this forum/thread. Instead, email them to me at 2014takeaction@gmail.com I have been forewarned (by a former TLBC/Slimband staff member) that Slimband will most definitely be out there posing as a TLBC bandster. This is to be expected and it’s fine as we are not doing anything illegal. But I do want to limit the amount of information we give them so that's why you should communicate via the email above. When you are able to submit your statement via this email address, please include as much information about yourself as possible. Date of surgery. Surgeon. Home city and/or province. I have some phone numbers and I will personally be calling you to chat and connect with you so if you want to share your phone number I will call you. You could include where you went to school and/or what you do for a living. If you have a LinkedIn Profile that would be a good way to connect as well. I don’t want anyone to be offended by this semi-intrusive procedure of obtaining personal information but it’s important for us, as we go forward, to only communicate with those who are serious about wanting to take action. So if you are onboard, please submit your statements/stories ASAP. Preferrably by Monday March 3rd 2014 as we will be meeting with a lawyer in the next few weeks. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at 2014takeaction@gmail.com I hope to hear from you all soon. Thank you. PS – Keep spreading the word.

Please read this post carefully. Some of you have been following the TLBC/Slimband/Dr. Yau thread on BP over the past week and I wanted to give everyone an update. As one of 3 organizers of the 2014takeaction@gmail.com email account, I can assure you that we have had an overwhelming amount of people contacting us to offer their support and interest in joining with us. These people include those banded by TLBC, some by Slimband and even former TLBC/Slimband staff members. So we’ve got a solid group and there’s a high potential for growth once we spread the word and more people go online. All of us are either interested in pursuing legal action or are looking for more information. On concerns relate to how Slimband has treated/mistreated us as TLBCer’s/Slimbanders. At this time, myself and two other woman are looking around for a lawyer who will represent us. Two of us are in Toronto and this is likely where we will be looking. But before we contact or meet with a lawyer we wanted to do a bit of leg work first. That’s where all of you come in. If you are interested I would a statement which would speak to your specific TLBC/Slimband story/experience. Please include whatever information you think is important. Please also include what concerns you have with how things are being handled. These statements will help us show/tell the lawyer what are concerns are and that there are a lot of us who want to take action. The only people who will see these statements are myself, the other 2 organizers and the lawyer. Please do not share you statements on this forum/thread. Instead, email them to me at 2014takeaction@gmail.com I have been forewarned (by a former TLBC/Slimband staff member) that Slimband will most definitely be out there posing as a TLBC bandster. This is to be expected and it’s fine as we are not doing anything illegal. But I do want to limit the amount of information we give them so that's why you should communicate via the email above. When you are able to submit your statement via this email address, please include as much information about yourself as possible. Date of surgery. Surgeon. Home city and/or province. I have some phone numbers and I will personally be calling you to chat and connect with you so if you want to share your phone number I will call you. You could include where you went to school and/or what you do for a living. If you have a LinkedIn Profile that would be a good way to connect as well. I don’t want anyone to be offended by this semi-intrusive procedure of obtaining personal information but it’s important for us, as we go forward, to only communicate with those who are serious about wanting to take action. So if you are onboard, please submit your statements/stories ASAP. Preferrably by Monday March 3rd 2014 as we will be meeting with a lawyer in the next few weeks. If you have any questions or concerns, please email me at 2014takeaction@gmail.com I hope to hear from you all soon. Thank you. PS – Keep spreading the word.

I called and talked to the people at Slimband. They talk a good sales pitch. They talked of quick weight loss, and were very sympathetic to my weight struggles. There was very little talk about after care. I did some research and found the after care is almost more important than the surgery itself. I decided to call SWLC in Mississauga. The people there answered my initial questions and sent me info via email and requested that I talk to Dr Cobourn before I make my final decision. Dr. Cobourn told it like it is...no instant weight loss, no miracle cure. He told me about the risks, how things can go wrong if the patient doesn't follow instructions etc. He quizzed me on my health condition and why I wanted the surgery. I had my surgery there in January. The clinic offers many webinars on the band, nutrition, support groups, etc. The team answers emails and phone calls quickly. They are eager to get their patients on the right track. If you are confused, they will set you straight. Understandably, they cannot give medical advise over the phone unless it is directly related to the band, found that out this past week. (thank lawyers for that one). Do your research before any surgery. Medical Tourism can be dangerous. Include your family physician before you go ahead with the surgery-you will need their support too.

Glad I never called Slimband and went right to Smart Shape in Mississauga.

I was banded 3 weeks ago, and I'm so glad that I did not go with Slimband. I was really considering them, but then I spoke to a few people and did my research. I had an uneasy feeling about them, especially Dr. Yau. It was honestly hard to find any positive comments about him online. What happened to the lady in the National Post article was frightening. I went with SWLC in Mississauga. Everything I had read about Dr. Cobourn was very positive, and when I met him I liked him immediately. I feel sorry for the patients of Slimband, and the way they are being treated.

And another article re: Slimband. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/13/thick-to-thin-gastric-band-weight-loss-clinic-denies-allegations-of-putting-patients-at-risk/

Oh and if anyone knows of other people who are thinking about going after Dr. Yau and/or Slimband (ie a lawsuit), can you send some information my way. I'm very interested.

Here's the link. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/21/chief-surgeon-at-slimband-weight-loss-clinics-resigns-after-probe-reveals-significant-history-of-complaints/

If you are thinking about getting the lap-band, it's a big decision and one you need to think about carefully. I wish I had done more research before I got mine and perhaps I would have gone somewhere other than Slimband. There's so much going on at Slimband that it's scary. It's a company that just wants your money. Once your payments clear, they'll drop you. It's happened to lots of us already. They will actually refer to you as a client because that's all you are to them. They are also very secretive which means you can't have any trust in them in terms of the care you will get post-surgery. If you ask questions you will likely go ignored for a long time. There is absolutely NO TRANSPARENCY! If you run into problems, and I mean serious problems, that are dangerous, they are sometimes not taken seriously. There article below mentions a lawsuit that occurred and trust me when I say, I've heard other horrible and terrifying stories/experiences as well. They fire or force their staff to resign. Last May, pretty much all their staff were let go. Now, with very few staff, there is not a lot of support and people have to pay for treatments that they were told they wouldn't have to. They will cut you off from services with no notice and they will say they are not required to give you such notice. Please consider another company. Slimband has gotten too big. It is a company that wants your money and will do whatever they can to get you signed up for surgery. They will use a sales pitch that is hard to ignore and they have even signed up people who don't qualify for the procedure. If you look at any place online, the lap band should only be given to those who are at least 100 pounds overweight. I know of an individual who was 190lbs and who only had to lost 30 pounds to be at their target weight. Dr. Patrick Yau resigned last week for the mistreatment of patients. He was an absolutely horrible person. And I know that he is no longer apart of Slimband but he was the Chief Surgeon for a long time at Slimband. During his time with them, he was a horrible physician and I question any company who would let such a doctor treat their patients for as long as he did. If I had to go through this all again, I would have likely gotten a gastric bypass. Although more involved, it's free and much more successful in terms of results. There are other places that you can get the lap band from. I'd say go anywhere but Slimband. Do your research.

I recently had some dealings with SB and was very unimpressed with the result. In fact I have been going back and forth since last July (2013), and my complaints of pain in my abdomen have been mostly ignored. I got the same story about how a fill was now $200, and assorted reasons why TLBC no longer existed. I also cannot find my contract, I can find every other piece of paper associated with the procedure, including the receipt that I was issued. I am a very detail oriented person and misplacing my contract would not be something I would do, and I cannot recall ever signing one. During my recent dealings with SB I asked for a copy of my contract which they said they did not have, because SB is not TLBC and as such had no obligation to assume the contracts entered into by TLBC, nor were they obliged to treat any patients from TLBC. In fact the person I spoke with said that SB had "graciously taken on Dr. Yau and his patients." They also said that they kept NO files from TLBC. I called my lawyer, he researched it, said that neither SB or TLBC was registered by industry Canada. If you go to: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpSrch.html?crpNm=Slimband&crpNmbr=&bsNmbr= You can search Slimband, Slimband Inc. etc and nothing comes up. This may mean that Slimband Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of another company. Keep in mind that originally, TLBC was The Prince Arthur Medical Clinic Inc, that also owned the financing company that you could use to fund the surgery. "Slimband" is a registered trade mark. So if you search the trademark database: http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/opic-cipo/trdmrks/srch/vwTrdmrk.do?lang=eng&status=OK&fileNumber=1395712&extension=0&startingDocumentIndexOnPage=1 The current registrant is Slimband Inc. and the old owner is The Prince Arthur Medical Clinic Inc. Slimband is not registered with the Better Business Bureau, but if you search them there, you will find: http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/physicians-and-surgeons-weight-reduction/slimband-in-toronto-on-1188653 And that the business was started in 2006. As well, the BBB rated Slimband as a D-. There is no obligation to register with the BBB. In a further call to SB I was told that if I wanted to see Dr. Yau, I would have to have a referral from my regular family physician, so I asked for a copy of my file to give to my GP. Earlier they said they had no files, on this call I was told it would cost for copying etc. Ultimately I paid about $40 for my file. In my file was the 9 page document that I did sign called "Laparoscopic Banding Surgery" which had me acknowledge and sign off on all the risks and that Dr. Yau had explained same to me, etc etc. The contractual part of this document discusses the issue of self pay because the procedure was not covered by OHIP. There is no discussion of after care in any of the documents I was given. However, while I was waiting for my file I spoke to a Slimband representative and I asked her specifically for a copy of the SLA (service level agreement) that was in place. She told me that there was no SLA in place in 2007. I was not given a copy of the current SLA, even though I asked for one. I have repeatedly asked for a copy of the current SLA and have been ignored each time. Your results may vary, but in my discussion with my lawyer, because there is no service contract in place, and neither I, nor the clinic have any type of contract/ document discussing after care, it would be a case of he said, she said. Further he advised me that usually, in Canada to sue (not just doctors), one must be able to prove economic/financial loss. At this point, I have no loss, and I may be out $200 if I need a fill. That would be a matter for small claims court. I would need to have a whole lot of fills before hiring a lawyer would be worth the cost. If I had to pay for a revision, it might be worthwhile to pursue. When I was banded I was told that if I need to convert to bypass (the sleeve was not an option back then), I would be responsible for paying for the anesthesiologist but not the surgery. Currently gastric bypass is covered by OHIP, so I would assume that if I needed a revision, it might be covered. If I ever do need a revision, I will research all of my options before deciding to go forward. Having said all of that, I am disappointed with this current news, and I hope that the new doctors will take over where Dr. Yau left off, time will tell. As an aside, I did have an ultrasound, and a barium xray that indicate that I had a very slight dilation of the esophagus. I had a 0.5 cc defill and will have a follow up xray in a few weeks.

Deborah! I found you. Remember me? We both had our correction surgies on October 31st 2013. We connected before surgery but when I went to find you post-op on the Slimband community to check in to see how everything went, your account was deactivated. I will assume the kicked you off just as they did me. Send me an email to takeaction2014@gmail.com Kat

Oh wow! I really dodged a bullet! I was considering getting my surgery here before I met Dr. Cobourn. The consultant I met with at Slimband was very nice, but she couldn't answer all my questions, and in my research I had read some bad stuff about Dr. Yau.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/21/chief-surgeon-at-slimband-weight-loss-clinics-resigns-after-probe-reveals-significant-history-of-complaints/

I was experiencing problems most of 2012 and finally in June 2012 they recommended my fill be removed (I only had .5 in there from 2003 to 2012 and was still having problems) I kept in touch with them via email and they were always calling me to give me advise and ask how I was doing. So after a few tries at refilling me 1 then a defill to .5 in May & July 2013 I was still having problems. It was a surgical nurse doing the fills in Bowmanville that told me she was going to talk to Dr. Yau because she was going to recommend he go in and possibly put a new band in. I just wanted it fixed!!! I was called for a surgery date October 31, 2013 and the day started off with a 2 hr surgery delay then Dr.Yau came in and explained everything and he was so charming and I remember telling my mom and husband that he used to be a dick and he was no so nice. Well I had surgery and the hell for me started!!! I woke up in the recovery room by wonderful nurses and moved to another room to rest in. Dr. Yau came in stood over my bed and started yelling at me telling me I was not his responsibility anymore and how dare I ask for a new band, I after all wasn't even his patient and the guy who did my surgery wasn't even allowed to practice in Canada anymore. I was on IV had oxygen and at that point a nurse came in an told him to leave. She said she is my patient and you are upsetting her. I lost it, after they took the IV the nurse left the room for me to rest but I got up, got dressed and started walking down the hall calling out for my husband. I was still groggy and crying really bad. Two nurses came running down the hall to get me and told me that no matter what he said they were not allowed to let me leave until THEY felt I was okay. I was taken back to the room and the nurses stayed with me and one told me that what Dr. Yau did was unacceptable and that they had called in the Patient Support Coordinater. She came up to the room and told me that Dr. Yau had no business saying what he said and that they realized I wasn't a NEW patient. It was their mistake. Dr. Yau came back in and told me if I wanted his help in the future I had to pay the full NEW price. I told him that he was an ass and that what he did was uncalled for. I told him you don't berate patients when they have only been out of surgery for 30 minutes and that he was a dick. I also told him that his bed side manner needed working on. He said, oh well and walked out of the room. The nurses kept telling me that they were shocked at his behaviour. So that was my experience and I am still considering legal action against that ass and slimband. They don't deserve to be in business .. especially when you are dealing with people's lives. Deborah

It is with Slimband and i have emailed them but, if they are denying people I wouldn't be surprised if they denied me too. I was re-banded by them about two and half years ago. I didn't get a contract or any papers etc. I would be interested still in knowing about the lawsuit and I have a ton of contacts who were banded by TLBC, Slimband and Joffe and Yao pre-clinic. I also know Kathy P. and can contact her for information. Once upon a time we had a Yahoo site that was very active, with lunches monthly, dinners, emails and support groups. I am sure I can get in touch with a variety of people.

Just a question Heather! Your last band must be with Slimband and that being the case you should be ok.

This is an interesting thread, I have had three bands, 1 by Dr Joffe and Yau, 1 by TLBC and 1 by slimband. I would be interested in know more about the lawsuit since there is no longer support for patients and I am one of them. A group of patients was told by the finance team at Scarborough Grace we would always be covered and then again by Dr Joffe and Yau. When my last band was put in I was given nothing so I have no clue anymore. But when I was banded over 12 years ago it was a lifetime support for everything. I now live in the US and haven't tried to get a fill, but I imagine if I try I will be told the same story. If the person is managing the class action wants to contact me my name is Heather and my email is susieq321@Hotmail.com.

Dr Yau has left Slimband...... article is at the National Post website today

If you were banded under TLBC (now Slimband) you might have heard that we are no longer getting the life long support system we signed up for. In fact, we now have to pay for any sort of support (fills, defills, access to a nutritionist) we might need, except for defills. Myself and several other (8) are looking for other TLBCer's who are upset by this situation. Please email me ASAP with your story, questions or concerns. Kat

I have already contacted the reporter Tom Blackwell from the National Post. and informed me what was going on and he may be interested in doing a story. You should contact him also. My warranty will be over in 2 years on my band however I am thinking of having it removed. Slimband told me that OHIP would cover the costs of the removal. I have gone to my doctor and we have asked for a referral to see Dr. Yau and I haven't heard anything yet. Look above at Tamara's email and send your information to her. We are collecting emails and contact names.