Absurd Bashing of a GREAT doctor

Wow. That was a much more in-depth article than any other I have seen. Thank you for posting it, KD. Jeanie

Here again its a matter of research. Now, if you are comfortable with 13 losses and the media attention...ok...fine. You go right ahead. But not me. No sir. Not with my life and health at stake. When I had my surgery, I knew of every bariatric surgeon in Florida, who had lost patients and who hadn't...I even knew their infection rate. From records in my state capitol....I knew who had been sued and who hadn't. I chose a Doc with ZERO deaths in 21 years (at that time)....head of surgery in a large hospital....never once sued. An impeccable record. And he's one of the tougest Docs around....if you are high risk he will make you low risk. He just will not lose anyone....and thats what I was looking for. Your parents are lucky....and I'm glad. But 13 deaths is just too many....over any given time span. To me, even 1 is too many...and I'm sure the loved ones of those who die from WLS will agree with me. So you are entitled to your opinion.....but if you post it on here...about something as sensitive as this....watch for the backlash. Hugs Charlie

This is pretty much a matter of opinion. The surgeon that performed my surgery is hailed by MANY people as a savior, however, to me he is just plain evil and was more than negligent in my care (read my profile for info.), this man has completely ruined my life with his lack of attention to my care after and during surgery, and the 8 subsequent surgeries that he "supposedly" preformed on me after my initial surgery. If you come out fine after surgery with no complications (or your family members), then of course, you will have no complaints, but if you are one that comes out with complications and find that the doctor wants no part in taking care of post op complications once the intial surgery has been completed...then you truly find out what kind of doctor it is that you chose. I am sorry that you are upset for what is being written about this doctor...I would want to question the 11 charges of neglegence (or whatever the article stated) and talk to those people to see what happened in their cases. You might change your tune a bit when you see how a doctor performs when finding out about ongoing complications with his patients. Good luck to you!

Are you crazy? Great doctor? With all those deaths? Get another doctor.

Agian I hear something that makes NO SENSE to me.....13 deaths in 20 years does not sound like a "huge amount".....I think that this is mostley about people who are just out for money and yes they lost a family member, but what a good idea to attack the doctor that could have done no more.....I have heard stories of people "cheating" after wls if you cheat of course there will be complications

Brett, Medical boards don't take licenses away from good doctors. Heck, most of the time, they don't take licenses away from even bad doctors. For a doctor to be at the point that they are revoking their license means that the doctor is not just bad, he's really really super bad. A chapter in the book "Complications" talks about how good doctors can go bad, and has a story a lot like this - a great surgeon, on top of the world, suddenly just starts screwing up - not being careful, not doing follow up correctly, and people started having very bad outcomes. It took far, far long than it "should" have for his license to be revoked.

This brings to mind something my husband says often. He works in a VERY dangerous job and is totally responsible for EVERYONE involved in the operations. He also holds a license which he could certainly lose by having ONE accident. Physicians seem to get more than ONE death/accident. Anyway, he says, "Complacency kills." When one gets too egotistical, to sure of himself/herself, to prideful, they aren't as careful and accidents begin to happen. "Complacency kills." *sigh*

You guys would not have known this, but with my stepdad they had many complications he was in and out of the hospital for a year....but i COMPLETELY understand that his problems were not the doctors fault. The doc can only do so much, but healing takes time.....

Where is the bashing? I've seen facts, but no bashing. Then again, I don't read everything. Jeanie

Brett, I am sorry you feel as though people are "bashing" your surgeon or family's surgeon. I read the article in several newspapers and have heard it on the news on tv. One of the paragraphs i read was the following. "Dr. Terry L. Sanderfer allegedly delayed treatment or failed to act promptly when problems arose, failed to adequately evaluate patients before and after surgery, abdicated patient care to others and kept medical notes that were incomplete or illegible, said the Medical Board of California." That to me doesnt sound like a patient "cheating on their wls diets" to me.. does it to you? Sounds like negligence on the Surgeon and office's parts. and one more thing.. If you had a pet and a kennel lost 13 dogs over 20 years due to neglect.. Would you take your beloved pet there? I think not. Just my opinion. Which I am entitled to. Have a great day and God Bless Kim