Advice on Dr Kuri

[pwilkins 1]

I can't say I had a single negative thing happen and I used Dr. Kuri - You say that he was accused of deaths, but even the best doctors in the field have about a 1 in 1000 death rate for band surgery, nothing to do with the quality or experience of the doctor, but there's always a risk with any kind of anesthesia, or with bleeding or abnormal conditions that occur with your physiology once you're opened up. Every single surgery, from laparascopic gall bladder removal to a gastric bypass, carries a risk. The death that occured were unfortunate - and I believe Dr. Kuri's mortality rate is lower than the U.S. national average for lap band surgeons, and they do NOT make him unreputable. You'd have to say every doctor in the U.S. is unreputable because they had a death or two occur during surgery. I've never had anything than the best response from Dr. Kuri - when I was getting my gall bladder removed, and when I had other issues, my doctor here in the states and myself both contacted Dr. Kuri's office and he personally took the calls, no matter what time they were placed. He's always personally taken an interest in his patients, and has a wonderful success rate - as I said, even better than the U.S. doctors' average.

Please do your research, which is the best advice anyone can take. Banding also isn't for everyone - if you have a problem with following rules, and eating ice cream, shakes, chocolate, etc. then the lap band won't be a good option for you. The band will not stop chocolate and shakes and soda pop from going down. It keeps solid foods from passing through as quickly, therefore you eat less. If you have problems with food, work those out before you have any procedure, because getting thin will not solve all your life problems. They'll still be there.. If you eat emotionally, try getting exercise & drink Water instead of picking up a fork.

Just do your research, and don't go saying a doctor isn't reputable just because they had a couple of deaths occur. EVERY surgeon does, bariatric surgeons particularly.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

You say that he was accused of 2 deaths, but even the best doctors in the field have about a 1 in 1000 death rate for band surgery, nothing to do with the quality or experience of the doctor, but there's always a risk with any kind of anesthesia, or with bleeding or abnormal conditions that occur with your physiology once you're opened up.

This is true when it comes to surgeries that aren't optional, however the majority of doctors on these boards have never had a patient die while on the table having Lap Band surgery. Why? Because before performing non-emergency elective they make their patients go through a battery of tests before being approved for the surgery. When you go to Mexico or any other Medical Tourism company all you have to do is go with cash in hand.

My doctor was the first doctor in my state to perform Lap Band surgery and has performed the surgery on patients from all the US and Canada over the decade and NEVER had a singe death. And yes, I did research this before choosing him. His partner has never had a death either.

No one is disputing people have had great personal experiences with Dr. Kuri. I'm sure you and many others had great experiences, but it doesn't change the fact he's using a 4cc band to save money despite the fact it's proven to have a VERY high slip/erosion rate and he's killed two patients.

[pwilkins 1]

This is true when it comes to surgeries that aren't optional, however the majority of doctors on these boards have never had a patient die while on the table having Lap Band surgery. Why? Because before performing non-emergency elective they make their patients go through a battery of tests before being approved for the surgery. When you go to Mexico or any other Medical Tourism company all you have to do is go with cash in hand.

That part isn't true. Dr. Kuri had me go to a cardiologist, and also lab tests and other tests with other doctors. I had to be cleared before he would perform the surgery. He warned me that if I didn't follow the pre-op diet that he would close me up again and we'd try at another date/time. We had to be cleared before he would perform the surgery, and told us that the important thing is that we were healthy and followed the rules. He also will not band a smoker because smokers have higher rates of complications and heal slower than non-smokers.

Also, Dr. Kuri uses Allergan's bands that are still being produced by Allergan, and many doctors are going back to using the 4cc bands again since there are more issues with the AP bands. These bands are not 'unsafe' or 'discontinued' - Dr. Kuri does care about his patients, and the 1 in 1000 statistics is for lapband surgeons, not just general surgery. It's great that your doc doesn't have any fatalities, but they do happen even to the best doctors.

Good luck to everyone - bariatric surgery of any kind is a very personal decision, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have no second thoughts about going to Mexico again with Dr. Kuri.

[Creekwood 702]

I don't know anything about this doc so I won't act like I do. BUT, my doc has performed over 5,000 lap-band surgeries and has never had a death.

[Nursey6030 0]

It is absolutely untrue that Dr. Kuri had two deaths during surgery. He had one which was very unfortunate and sad. He has had two deaths total in over 12 years of doing Lap-Band. The first was from a pulmonary embolism two days after surgery. As has been stated before this is MAJOR surgery and there is always a risk. Dr. George Fielding who did Gov. Christie's surgery has had 14 deaths.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

My apologies, I was obviously wrong about his pre op testing practices.

However it is not true that US doctors are going back to the 4cc band- that's a myth being spread by the Mexican doctors to try to validate their practices. In fact, many US doctors are replacing the 4cc bands with 10cc or 14cc bands because of the high rate of slips and erosion with the 4cc band.

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

It is absolutely untrue that Dr. Kuri had two deaths during surgery. He had one which was very unfortunate and sad. He has had two deaths total in over 12 years of doing Lap-Band. The first was from a pulmonary embolus two days after surgery. As has been stated before this is MAJOR surgery and there is always a risk. Dr. George Fielding who did Gov. Christie's surgery has had 14 deaths.

It IS true. Look at the links in the post above. Unfortunately the Mexican government did nothing to follow up on them and the US government has no jurisdiction over medical malpractice in foreign countries.

[vmarlau 207]

It is absolutely untrue that Dr. Kuri had two deaths during surgery. He had one which was very unfortunate and sad. He has had two deaths total in over 12 years of doing Lap-Band. The first was from a pulmonary embolism two days after surgery. As has been stated before this is MAJOR surgery and there is always a risk. Dr. George Fielding who did Gov. Christie's surgery has had 14 deaths.

Wow! 14???