Has Anyone Had A Bariatric Surgeon Refuse To See You?

[babybig 2]

Ok so I live in Anchorage, Alaska. I had my surgery in Mexico by DR. Almanza on April 15, 2011.

I decided to seek out a group for people who have had my surgery or something close (sleeve)

I called the only bariactric surgury clinic in town and wanted to know about there groups, they said I had to be a patient. I set up an appointment with the doc, which by the way his office is like an assembly line of ppl waiting to be seen. Anyways after i waited well over an hour past my appt time, he then sat with me... and said he refuses to see me because I had my surgery in mexico. I told him I just want to be part of the groups, and he said absolutely not. DONT TELL ANYONE TOO HAVE SURGERY IN MEXICO, TELL THEM TO COME HERE AND WE CAN DO PAYMENT PLANS. GO BACK TO YOUR OLD HOSPITAL AND IF YOU HAVE A COMPLICATION THEY WILL CALL ME THEN, UNTIL THEN I WONT SEE YOU! He was rude! He belittled me. said alot of other hurtful things.... HAS ANYONE HAD A SIMILIAR SITUATION HAPPEN TO THEM????

Im so upset. This is my only rescource here.....I do not reccomend anyone ever have surgery by this guy. If im correct he performed surgeries in the 80's and his first 10 or 20 (i dont remember) DIED on him. My mom is one of the few survivors still left.

Besides that..... all I wanted was to be part of the group meetings.... and I was refused.

Lost 85 lbs since april 15, 2011

[carbgrl 119]

I'm sorry you went through that. Unfortunately, there are alot of doctors who are only in it for the money. I experienced someone similar here too.

[IowaAndy 95]

I totally understand her pain. I had my first surgery here in Des Moines IA. with Dr Eibes who did my lapband. When I went back to him when I stopped losing weight he told me that I should have probably had the sleeve in the first place. Nice of his to tell me then. We talked about a revision to the sleeve and they sent it into my insurance who denied me. Dr Eibes told me that it would take 2 surgeries from him.....the first to remove the lapband and then in another 5 months a second to do the sleeve. This would have cost me about $40,000 out of pocket. I could no way afford that so I too went to Tijuana Mexico and had both procedures for a total of $6000. When I came back I called his office and they told me that since I had the surgery in Mexico that Dr Eibes would not longer see me as a patient and that I too was not welcome at their support sessions. Told them fine. I have been following up with my primary care physician and she checks my blood work. I take all of my supplements and watch what I eat. If I should develop a problem I will just go to the ER and they will have to call and they will then have to take care of me if I need surgery etc. Other than that they can screw themselves.

I am so sorry that this happened to you and that you too have no options. There are other surgeons within 2-3 hours of me but I have not contacted any of them as I had my surgery on Dec 11, 2011 and I am doing good. My primary care checks me on occassion and if I need she will send me to the ER>

It is all about the almighty dollar for the bariatric surgeons here in the US. They all took an oath of "Do no harm". Guess they conveniently forgot that part.

[babybig 2]

Thanks for telling me this.... It at least makes me feel a better knowing im not alone. I dothe same thing. I see my primary care doctor for labs. Nothing ever comes up abnormal and i feel great after the surgery. My feelings are that this guy prob didnt want me talking about cheaper options during group meetings. Spreading any rumors about cheap surgery. Whatever to him. He has all of alaska for himself. I hope he gets competition soon!

[donniej 35]

Same problem here, noone in town would see me, and they were straight asses

[Liberated Sleeve 148]

I totally understand her pain. I had my first surgery here in Des Moines IA. with Dr Eibes who did my lapband. When I went back to him when I stopped losing weight he told me that I should have probably had the sleeve in the first place. Nice of his to tell me then. We talked about a revision to the sleeve and they sent it into my insurance who denied me. Dr Eibes told me that it would take 2 surgeries from him.....the first to remove the lapband and then in another 5 months a second to do the sleeve. This would have cost me about $40,000 out of pocket. I could no way afford that so I too went to Tijuana Mexico and had both procedures for a total of $6000. When I came back I called his office and they told me that since I had the surgery in Mexico that Dr Eibes would not longer see me as a patient and that I too was not welcome at their support sessions. Told them fine. I have been following up with my primary care physician and she checks my blood work. I take all of my supplements and watch what I eat. If I should develop a problem I will just go to the ER and they will have to call and they will then have to take care of me if I need surgery etc. Other than that they can screw themselves.

I am so sorry that this happened to you and that you too have no options. There are other surgeons within 2-3 hours of me but I have not contacted any of them as I had my surgery on Dec 11, 2011 and I am doing good. My primary care checks me on occassion and if I need she will send me to the ER>

It is all about the almighty dollar for the bariatric surgeons here in the US. They all took an oath of "Do no harm". Guess they conveniently forgot that part.

Not all the surgeons in the US are about the money - that is a little strong.

[IowaAndy 95]

You find me a surgeon in the US that will take you as a patient after you have gone out of the country to have your surgery because of the cost.....that will show me that they did not miss the money in their pocketbook. Does anyone out there that has had surgery in a foreign country that now has a bariatric surgeon that is willing to see them as a regular patient......just curious

[Catracks 865]

I don't think it's about the money. Even though I have heard wonderful thing about the bariatric surgeons in Mexico, there is still a stigma attached. It's even in the pop culture. I remember watching a Grey's Anatomy episode concerning a botched bypass done in Mexico.

I think it's very small of them to not let you in on the support groups, but I think there is an unwritten rule like the cop's blue code that shuns the people who have had surgery in Mexico and doctors like to keep their patients separated.

I was curious myself how the insurance deals with it. My surgery cost $15.000. I paid and extra 10% for lifetime follow-up and the support group. Also, what if a complication arises? Will insurance cover a Mexico sleeved patient?

There also may be malpractice insurance regulations that these surgeons have to follow. They may not be allowed by their own insurance to see Mexico sleeved patients.

That said, why can't these surgeons be a little kinder and explain things?

As a side note, 99% of my surgeons patients are either lapband of bypass. There are no sleevers in my surgeon's support group. That's why I come here. This is a great place!

[Rootman 1,101]

No, he wasn't being rude, he was being a TOTAL A$$H0LE - excuse my language.

YES, he has to protect himself from liability on those he did not treat but good gawd to come out and say something like that is so totally unprofessional and just A. H. -ish (I just invented a new word ) as to be incredible.

Look for an independent group if there is one, you may be stuck with just something like this forum because of your remoteness. And remember YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE.

[IowaAndy 95]

I think the liability issue is just a front. If you have a general surgeon perform a surgery for you it is his insurance that covers that surgery. If you move and see another doctor he does not assume responsibility for any of your previous surgeries. The surgeons here are afraid that if the patient that are in their support groups or practice find out that you did fine going to Mexico and paid so much less than what they charge here in the US they would lose more business. Granted Mexico or any other country is not for everyone but for some of us it is the only option.

[Cobrargc 25]

I was seriously entertaining the idea of having mine done in Mexico. I then made an appointment with a doctor in KC. I'd wanted to see what this doctor was like. During my initial consultation with him I mentioned the possibility of having the procedure in Mexico. I could tell he uncomfortable when I brought it up. He told me the decision was mine. He thought the Mexican surgery would likely be safe and the result would be good. He did say "If you have any problems with the sleeve when you get back, don't come to me expecting me to fix it." He then brought up the phrase "medical tourism". He made it plain and clear that he didn't approve of Medical Tourism.

That's just too bad! Many folks have to go outside the US to be able to afford the procedure. Our country needs to get medical costs under control. Things just cost TOO much here. The same thing with prescription drugs being way cheaper in Canada. I was kind of chuckling to myself when the doctor was talking down to medical tourism. The doctor who did my surgery belong to a group in KC that has runs a special on their website. This special pricing is about $5,000 cheaper than here in the Omaha area. I don't know about all of you, but what he is doing seems like medical tourism to me. His lower price enticed me to travel elsewhere for the procedure.

[Dooter 1,457]

I've heard that even if your surgery is in the U.S., it's hard to get another surgeon to take you on for follow ups. My surgery was in Dallas, and I live in Albuquerque, so I'm using my PCP for followups, and he is keeping in contact with my surgeon. Just the nature of the lawsuit-hungry society we live in. That said...when they refuse you, they don't have to be jerks about it.

[Amanda 3.0 140]

I don't think that the U.S. doctors are assuming any medical risk by taking on patients who have been sleeved in Mexico. I think that is the one weak link in "medical tourism" - it is too far for aftercare. They know this, and this is the one tool some of these doctors have to keep self-pay people here in the U.S. The word will get out, like it is getting out in this discussion, that aftercare in the U.S. is not easy to find after surgery in Mexico. Maybe five people will read this thread and stay in the U.S.

I also think this is a huge money-maker for these surgeons. Some of them do run surgery mills. Some of the surgeons have ownership in the sleep study centers and surgery facilities. Now is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. But many of them are in it for the money, that's okay as long as they do my surgery properly and give me a pleasant enough experience.

A "mill" is not a bad thing. A surgeon does a lot of the procedure and he gets pretty darn good at it. It is the same with these big lasik centers.

As for payment plans for U.S. surgeons? That sounds like car dealerships. They want to concentrate on the monthly payment rather than the total cost. If the surgery is $6,000 in Mexico, and $12,000 in the U.S. (although those same surgeon/hospital teams claim over $100,000 when all is said and done when they bill your insurance), who cares what the payment is? It is still money out of our pocket.

I have read my insurance paperwork and it states that complications arising from uncovered procedures are not covered. So if you go to Mexico, and the complications arise specifically from the surgery, you may not be covered.

The cost of medical care in this country is ridiculous and the system is broken. A surgeon submits a claim to insurance for $16,000 for a procedure and receives a little over $2,000. Who knows what the cash pay patient pays? It isn't $16,000. Why a bill for $16,000 is ever generated in the first place is beyond me, since no one is paying $16,000. I guess that serves to boost the "reasonable and customary" fee up.

These comments are not just about bariatric surgery. The same thing happened with my husband's back surgery. And I loved my experience with my bariatric surgeon. It is just the stupid way things work here.

[Amanda 3.0 140]

Oh and P.S. - how petty to not allow you to attend the support group! The support group at our hospital is open to all.

[Catracks 865]

I have read my insurance paperwork and it states that complications arising from uncovered procedures are not covered. So if you go to Mexico, and the complications arise specifically from the surgery, you may not be covered.

I'm being honest here and I don't want to ruffle feathers, but if my insurance had been denied, I would have financed it here. Again, the surgeons there are just as good and sometimes better, but what legal recourse do we have if something does go wrong? You go to the ER and they fix you up, but your insurance doesn't cover it.

Yes, way broken and no thanks. I didn't have one complication, but the boards are full of people who did.