Apparently there's a slight difference between the old stats from the American Society of Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) and a new Medicare Study.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/18/obesity.surgery.ap/index.html
SUMMARY
ASBS: Overall mortality <=1%
Medicare (by gender and age):
Ages Women Men
18 to 34 ? ?
35 to 44 3% 5%
45 to 64 >3% >5%
65 to 74 6% 13%
75 & over 40% 50%
(Sorry for the incomplete stats, I still need to get a copy of the article in the NEJM. I'm only summarizing the linked article. Also, I apologize for the lack of formatting of the table. I entered it with space delimited columns, but the new 'board' software eliminated all extra spaces, and 'tab' didn't work.)
I especially love how the author of the study, Dr. David Flum, hints that the ASBS may have cherry picked their stats by using the results of the best doctors. Almost as a counterpoint, Dr. Neil Hutcher, the president of the ASBS, effectively blames the patients for the higher mortality rates from those being covered by Medicare.
I'd say the bariatric industry's worst PR nightmare may be doctors and medical statisticians outside of the bariatric industry having access to the real statistics and not just the gerrymandered stats from the ASBS.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/18/obesity.surgery.ap/index.html
SUMMARY
ASBS: Overall mortality <=1%
Medicare (by gender and age):
Ages Women Men
18 to 34 ? ?
35 to 44 3% 5%
45 to 64 >3% >5%
65 to 74 6% 13%
75 & over 40% 50%
(Sorry for the incomplete stats, I still need to get a copy of the article in the NEJM. I'm only summarizing the linked article. Also, I apologize for the lack of formatting of the table. I entered it with space delimited columns, but the new 'board' software eliminated all extra spaces, and 'tab' didn't work.)
I especially love how the author of the study, Dr. David Flum, hints that the ASBS may have cherry picked their stats by using the results of the best doctors. Almost as a counterpoint, Dr. Neil Hutcher, the president of the ASBS, effectively blames the patients for the higher mortality rates from those being covered by Medicare.
I'd say the bariatric industry's worst PR nightmare may be doctors and medical statisticians outside of the bariatric industry having access to the real statistics and not just the gerrymandered stats from the ASBS.
