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.

A 2013 study by L. Angrisani et al. published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases aimed to “compare outcomes of patients randomly assigned to undergo LAGB or LRYGB at 10 years.”  To be clear, “LAGB” means laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (with systems such as LAP-BAND by Allergan) and “LRYGB” means laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.  Both of these are surgical methods for reducing weight in the morbidly obese.  Gastric banding involves the placement of a plastic band around the stomach to make one feel full after eating less, and gastric bypass is a procedure in which part of the small intestine is bypassed so less calories are absorbed from consumed food.

This study, titled “Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding versus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: 10-year results of a prospective, randomized trial.” followed 51 patients who underwent gastric banding procedures or gastric banding patients between January 2000 and November 2000 for ten years’ follow-up, documenting all benefits and side-effects.

By ten years, eight patients “were lost to follow-up” – five gastric banding and three gastric bypass patients.  Researchers found that “Reoperations were required in 9 (40.9%) of 22 LAGB patients” and “6 (28.6%) of the 21 LRYGB patients.”  Researchers also found that after the ten years, gastric bypass patients had lost more excess weight than gastric banding patients.

Sadly, the manufacturer of the LAP-BAND gastric banding system has failed time and again to warn users of such a risk for reoperation associated with the use of their devices: the LAP-BAND Warning Label states that about 4.6% of patients will require reoperation.  As a result of such a discrepancy, a number of LAP-BAND lawsuits have been filed.

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