ObesityHelp

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Hey guys - it's been too long since our last meeting!  We've got a group of new members to welcome as well.  I think this will be a great time to introduce ourselves to them and check our progress and challenges.  I'd like to get a couple topics from each of you that you'd like to see us talk or prepare in the coming months - what do you want out of this?  I look forward to hearing your ideas, and seeing you all this weekend!

Sunday, Feb 12, 3PM

RSVP here on Meetup

Maybe the dollar amounts billed were the pre insurance discount price

I'll give you an example of a recent bill I received in the mail.I'll round up a bit.

Hospital bill for band/sleeve surgery last May. (six days in the hospital) = 100,000.
UHC discount was 80,000.
UHC paid 17,500.
My provider (HMO) paid the 2,500.00 balance
My cost was Zero

Even if all the services provided were done as stated, the dollar amounts seem outrageously high. I had my DS in a hospital, stayed for 4 days postop, and the bill was less than half what that patient's insurer is being billed for an outpatient lap band.
     And I've never heard of that much being charged for fills, either. I though I had heard some pretty high numbers, but never this much before. And of course, that's aside from the issue of whether fills were really done or not.

Regarding your daughter, try to be patient. I suspect her approach to her potential surgeon is the same as 90% of the people who seek bariatric surgery - he (or she) is the doctor. We are taught to respect doctors. They go to school for a long time. They train for a long time. In most cases, our insurers send us to specific doctors. So most patients walk in the door with a sense of trust, and unless the doc does something to lessen that trust, most people take what the doctor says on faith.
     Let's face it, that's one of the reasons the get thin group has been able to be so successful for so long. Desparate people came to them for help. They projected an image of readiness to provide that help. Even when there were red flags, people wanted so very much to see what they wanted to see that they went along for the ride.

Larra

I can't wait to hear exactly what was said during that telephone call between " Dr, Julian Omidi " and Dr. Salimitari. I too want to know what was it about that call that changed Dr. Salimitari's  mind.

I also want to know why it took till the 2nd office visit ( day of surgery ) for Dr. Salimitari to notice the 14 year olds weight ? Did the mother attend the first office visit without the 14 year old daughter ?

I too was wondering how they got the insurance company to approve the lap band on a 14 year old when it was clearly contraindicated. Oh and in the court records it states that she ( Susan Blackburn ) was instructed to take a telephone call with " Dr, Julian Omidi ",  so that entire telephone call she was led to believe that she was speaking with a licensed doctor.

Another Lap Band patient named Connie Herrera ( currently a resident of the state of Hawaii ) attended the free seminar around March 31st 2010 and was told her BMI wasn't high enough to qualify her for her insurance to pay.  1-800-GET THIN's Dr Madan  instructed Connie Herrera   on how to write a carefully hand written note to her insurance company  and telling her exactly what she was to write down in that letter even though she had told Dr Madan that it wasn't entirely true. Connie Herrera noted at the time that their were 6-7 other patients standing at the counter at the same time as she was and they were also being instructed to write the same exact letter to their insurance companies at the direction of Dr Madan.

Although this was advertised as a " Free Seminar " Connie Herrera's insurance company was billed 500.00 dollars for the seminar.

On April 2nd 2010 Connie Herrera had a pre op endoscopy performed at the Defendants San Bernadino Facility. Connie Herrera's insurance company was billed 4,000.00 dollars for
" Recovery Room ", however, there was no recovery room and Connie Herrera was placed in a wheel chair following surgery and was never moved to a post op recovery room.

On or about May 5th 2010 Connie Herrera had a pre op "Sleep Study" performed at the direction of the Defendants. Connie Herrera arrived at a small office located in a strip mall with only one room,occupied by a receptionist and many other " patients".
Connie Herrera's insurance company was billed by Defendants BEVERLY HILLS SURGERY CENTER  25,395.00 dollars for this "fake sleep study"

BEVERLY HILLS SURGERY CENTER, LLC billed Connie Herrera's insurance company for "adjustments" to her Lap Band on July 2, July 7th, and August 4th. However when Connie Herrera consulted an independent bariatric surgeon in Hawaii. She was told that there was no fluid whatsoever in her Lap Band, meaning the " adjustments" were also faked. Connie Herrera's insurance company was billed 1,350.00 for these faked " adjustments "

Connie Herrera had her Lap Band surgery on June 29th 2010  Dr. Scott Bickman was her anesthesiologist. Unbeknownst to her, The CA Medical Board had filed an accusation against Dr. Scott Bickman on March 23rd 2004  for" Gross Negligence & Incompetence " arising from the death of a patient.
On or about August 18, 2006 The CA Medical Board issued a stipulated settlement and revoked Dr. Scott Bickman license but stayed the revocation contingent upon Dr. Scott Bickman completing the terms of probation for 35 months. On October 30th 2009 Dr. Scott Bickman Medical license was restored.
At no time did the Defendants inform Connie Herrera that Dr. Scott Bickman had been disciplined by The CA Medical Board and it's accusation against Dr. Scott Bickman for" Gross Negligence & Incompetence " arising from the death of a patient, his stipulated settlement, stayed revocation, and 35 month probation. Had Defendants informed plaintiff Connie Herrera of this material fact.Plaintiff Connie Herrera would not have consented to be treated by Dr. Scott Bickman.

On or about September 1st 2010, Connie Herrera was billed by Defendants the sum of 211,729.50 DOLLARS despite the fact that Defendants had told Connie Herrera that her insurance company would cover 100% of the cost of all procedures they performed pre & post operatively in connection with her Lap Band surgery.

I don't know about anybody else, but I myself would never have consented to treatment by Dr. Scott Bickman  had this information been disclosed to me. I'm guessing this doesn't fall under " Implied Consent " does it ?

Yesterday my daughter came home from her pre op appointment for her sleeve surgery which is to be performed later this month and we got into an argument because, the more questions I asked her, the less she was able to clearly answer me in regards to some of her surgeons answers to the questions I had sent her with. 
Long story short,  I met and fought with her arrogant asshole bariatric surgeon. We mutually hated each other once I started to question him about his training and was not dutifully impressed enough
( I guess ) because he got really " frustrated " with me ( his words not mine ) His answers didn't impress me, in fact they angered me. I dislike being treated as ignorant because he went to Harvard for ONE ******g year. Big Deal huh

I trusted my daughter (age 24 ) to not accept asinine as well as illogical answers to certain questions and she blew it. I had to let her go to this 2nd pre op with out me because, 1. She didn't want me starting **** with her surgeon again and 2. She needs to learn to have to advocate for herself. UGH
I had to calm myself down long enough to teach her how to advocate for herself AGAIN !
After everything I have been through with my own medical care, you would think she would be smart enough to this question differently.

Me: Why the hell was that answer good enough for you and does it even make any sense ?

Her: IDK Mom, he's a doctor and I thought they were supposed to have my best interest at heart.

ME: WTF How many times have I told you blah blah blah blah blah

What a mess!
     But note that the guy with no license isn't the one who installed the lap band in the 14 year old. Exactly how he convinced the surgeon to do it, we don't know, but the surgeon, as far as we know, was properly licensed.
     Which leads us back to the original issue of lap band in a 14 year old...I have never heard of installing ANY medical device for "off label" use. Off label, to my knowledge, refers to prescribing a legal drug for treatment of a disease other than the disease or disorder it was originally authorized to treat.
     What possible purpose could a lap band be used for other than to treat obesity? What "off label" use could it possibly have? And if it's being used to treat something other than obesity, why bother to falsify the patient's height and/or weight except to deceive the insurance company to get them to pay for it...which they would only do to treat someone's obesity.
     And even then, the numbers don't match up. Even if the girl was 5'2", with a weight of 184, her bmi would still be only 33.7, not 40. If we use a height of 5'2" and a weight of 230, her bmi becomes 42.1, not 40. Let me try 5'4" and 230 - now we get 39.5. 
    And nothing could be done about her age, which surely was known to her insurer. Almost every insurance policy I've seen has a lower age limit of 18, though of course that could be challanged in extraordinary cir****tances when a child's life is endangered. But that doesn't seem to be the case here.
     Again, what a mess, and the more we learn, the worse it sounds.

Larra

Barb, I am hoping to be there this month!

It didn't say that they had falsified her age, just her weight, height, and BMI.

Oh God I hope that doesn't happen, but more then likely it could. They used fake names and a maze of corporate entities to hide their true identities so that patients were unable to look their medical licenses up. Had they used their real names, then patients would have been able to see that one of the brothers had his medical license revoked, the other brother was on a three year probation, another doctor named.

The Medical Board of California recently completed an investigation of an anesthesiologist's performance in a December 2010 Lap-Band surgery in Beverly Hills that resulted in the death of Lawndale resident Tamara Walter. The medical board forwarded its findings to the state attorney general, according to a letter the agency sent to the dead patient's sister.

Dr. Daniel Shin, the anesthesiologist in question, was accused of providing "suboptimal" care that contributed to the death of Tamara Walter. Shin was on probation at the time of the surgery because of his criminal conviction for assaulting a process server with a meat cleaver, according to medical board and court records.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/dec/15/business/la-fiw-get- thin-20111215

 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas says he may call for restrictions on advertising for Lap-Band weight-loss surgery and could even propose a billboard campaign warning consumers about the risks of the procedure.

Ridley-Thomas said Wednesday that he wanted to work with county public health officials to determine steps the county could take to "ensure serious health problems are not trivialized." Contact Email for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas  seconddistrict@bos.lacounty.gov

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-ThomasLos Angeles County 

 

Aetna Insurance has launched an investigation into alleged fraud against its clients.

These surgery centers performed lap band, plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, and dermatology surgery. Patients & their insurance companies were fraudulently billed for hernia surgeries which were not performed.
TOP SURGEONS INC.
TOP SURGEONS LLC.
NEW LIFE SURGERY CENTER LLC.
WOODLAKE AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER INC.
1-800-GET-THIN LLC.
ALMONT SURGERY CENTER INC.
ANTELOPE VALLEY SURGICAL CENTER INC.
BEVERLY HILLS SURGERY CENTER LLC.
CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT & COLLECTIONS INC.
LAP BAND SPECIALIST LLC.
SKIN CANCER & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY SPECIALISTS OF BEVERLY HILLS.
SKIN CANCER & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY SPECIALISTS OF VALENCIA.
SURGERY SPECIALISTS OF VALENCIA.
SURGERY CENTER MANAGEMENT LLC
UNNAMED PALMDALE CALIFORNIA FACILITY (Dr. George Salimitari)



Tri-City Regional Medical Center in Hawaiian Gardens California.
Dr. Salimitari - Performed Lap Band surgery on a 14 year old girl,whose BMI,Weight,& Height were falsely listed. Her age alone violated the conditions of FDA approval. The girls mother was forced to incur costs for removal of the Lap Band due to chronic nausea & diarrhea.

Dr.Julian Omidi medical license was revoked by The California Medical Board on October 26, 2007.


Dr. George Tashjian was under investigation by The California Medical Board for " Gross Negligence " resulting in a formal investigation by The California Attorney General to revoke his medical license. 

Anesthesiologist Dr Daniel Shin  was accused of providing "suboptimal" care as well as being on probation at the time of the surgery because of his criminal conviction for assaulting a process server with a meat cleaver, according to medical board and court records. There was total absence of informed consent.

Anesthesiologist Dr. Scott Bickman - Medical Board of California had filed an accusation against Dr. Bickman for GROSS NEGLIGENCE & INCOMPETENCE arising from the death of a patient.Medical license was, revoked, then stayed, then restored.

The list of "Providers " just goes on and on/

 

It's actually worse then discouraging, it's down right horrific. Read the class action lawsuit.

www.1800getthinclassaction.com/sites/default/files/FAC%20CLA SS%20ACTION_20110708221429.pdf