We are no longer accepting cases regarding these products.  Due to a terrible Supreme Court ruling, consumers injured by this product are no longer permitted to sue the manufacturers of this device.  We wish we could help, but the Supreme Court has taken the rights of citizens away to protect the profits of medical device manufacturers.  For more information, please read the following New York Times article entitled “Medical Device Ruling Redraws Lines on Lawsuits.

In a small study, the results of which published in the July 2006 edition of Archives of Surgery, a team of researchers led by WB Browne set out to determine whether patient outcome was better for super morbidly obese patients using laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) or laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB).

Retrospectively studying 106 patients with super morbid obesity who underwent either LAGB or LRYGB between February 2001 and June 2004, and evaluated patients for “demographics, weight loss, percentage of excess weight loss, change in body mass index, early (<30 days) and late (> or =30 days) complications, reoperations, medical comorbidity, and patient satisfaction were studied.”

At follow-up (mean follow-up was just over 16 months), researchers found that “Compared with LRYGB, patients who underwent LAGB experienced a greater incidence of late complications …, reoperations …, less weight loss …, and decreased overall satisfaction”.  That is, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding systems such as the LAP-BAND by Allergan, were found to perform worse than gastric bypass procedures.

Researchers also wrote that “patients who underwent LRYGB had a greater resolution of concomitant diabetes mellitus (P < .05) and sleep apnea (P<.01) compared with the LAGB group. Furthermore, postoperative adjustments to achieve consistent weight loss for LAGB recipients ranged from 1 to 15 manipulations” and “Our single mortality was in the LAGB group.”

Concluding that “In super morbidly obese patients, LAGB is significantly associated with more late complications, reoperations, less weight loss, less reduction of medical comorbidity, and patient dissatisfaction compared with LRYGB” and “Further evaluation of LAGB in this patient population appears warranted”, this paper could be used in a LAP-BAND lawsuit to demonstrate to court that the manufacturers of these products knew, or should have known, the risks associated with their products.

Our Allergan LAP-BAND Lawsuit Information page is a great place to start if you have any questions about the Allergan LAP-BAND.