Thursday, July 8, 2010

NEW STUDY FINDS THOSE DENIED INSURANCE FOR BARIATRIC SURGERY

ASMBS - Weight Stayed the Same Over Three Years, But New Diseases Developed at Rapid Pace

LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 24, 2010 – Patients who were denied bariatric surgery for insurance reasons developed a slew of new obesity-related diseases and conditions within three years of follow-up, according to a new study presented here at the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

Researchers at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, compared the medical records of 587 patients who had laparoscopic gastric bypass (LGB) with 189 patients who were medically eligible, but denied bariatric surgery by their insurance provider during the period 2001 to 2007. At the time of initial medical evaluation, patients in both groups had an average body mass index (BMI) of about 48. The goal of the research was to track the development of five obesity-related conditions in patients who were denied treatment and in patients who had bariatric surgery.

Read the entire article: http://www.asmbs.org/Newsite07/resources/2010_annual_meeting/access_to_care_insurance_denials.html

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