Hugh Babineau Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS, FASMBS

My daughter's mother and I have been preaching this for two years. Our beautiful 31-yr-old daughter was taken from us in an instant due to the infection--peritonitis--that is caused by a leak at the site of surgery, and her surgeon would not listen. She had been in and out of the hospital 13 times in 18 months and he refused to let another doctor see her, and of course, no one would without his permission. She was last hospitalized in December of 2008 and die two weeks later suddenly on January 3, 2009. The last comment her surgeon made to us as he ran his fingers through his long greasy hair was, "I know there is nothing wrong with my surgery." Our daughter was a RN-BSN! She hurt from the moment she awoke from the surgery until the day she died. She lost five jobs because of absenteeism and none of her bosses would listen to her. In Texas, due to tort reform in laws covering malpractice, we could not sue because she would have had to die within 24 to 48 hours after release from the hospital for the good (sarcasm) doctor to be held responsible. All we wanted was to be able to set up a scholarship fund at her university for nursing students. We were not looking to get rich from the demise of our baby.
It’s about time someone takes this on with the media to help us get national attention to wake up the doctors and families this surgery destroys. Doctors are running obese people through like cattle so they can get rich. In East Texas, where we are, the surgery gets him about $15,000 per surgery and he completes about 15 per week. You do the math. Our only recourse so far is that he and the hospital are still under investigation by the Texas Medical Board due to our complaint. And this is taking forever.
I have contacted Oprah, The Doctors and Dr. Phil about getting us on a show to help get badly needed attention to make the FDA (or whomever) take matters into hand and create a “standard of care” for this surgery. So far to no avail. Also, due to the lack of standard of care, this surgery is hard to make the doctor take responsibility for his actions. Although, research shows that many great doctors complain about the bad ones because they admit that there is NO excuse for a doctor to refuse to go back into the surgical site and look for leaks – which our daughter did have once as indicated by a MRI or Scan –but he only gave her antibiotics. These responsible doctors admit that the sites can and do become leaks and they can be repaired by several different methods including new sutures or staples and there is a glue of some kind available to aid the doctor in stopping the leaks.
Please, join us and help us get the attention this serious surgery requires. Help us get it to a standard of care so greedy doctors will stop and warn the patients more than, “this is major surgery,” as many of them tell their patients. The real shame here is that she went in for a lap band; the greedy doctor talked her into a gastric bypass.
Al Massey

I went to his seminar. He was shy but was very informative. He talked about both the lapband and the gastric bypass with the risk and complications that could occur. His office staff was very friendly and helpful. I just had my lapband surgery on 11/6/08 so I really can't tell you anything that I like the least about him. His staff handed out a folder with everything that a person needed to know about the beginning of the process, including insurance, everything regarding surgery and even aftercare. Yes he has an aftercare program but I have not taken advantage of it at this time. his surgical competence is awesome. I work for 3 psychiatrists and they all talk about him and that he is the best bariatric surgeon around. I feel that if he was not quite as shy that his bedside manner would be awesome as well.

The first time I met Dr.Babineau was during a group consultation in his outer office. His nurse spoke first and then he came in and gave a brief discussion with models of both lapband and RNY procedures. He was wearing cowboy boots and sat down and crossed his legs kinda matter of factly. He appeared very competent but extremely shy. Later each of us was called in one on one with him. I had already been told that if you had any questions, you needed to have them prepared and ask. He told me that I was definitely a candidate and asked why I had chosen the RNY over the lapband. Our entire meeting lasted only 15 minutes tops. rnHIS STAFFrnHe has absolutely the best staff with each person having a specialized job and they do it well. Catherine made all appointments. Frieda gathered all necessary insurance information. She is outstanding at getting you approved. The nutritionist (sorry forgot her name)met with me after hours because I could not get over any oter time. Cathi met with me one week prior to surgery to go over details. Lisa met with me at the hospital to detail what would be happening. rnONLY CONCERNrnMy only concern which was really not a concern, was that I only met with Dr. Babineau for 15 minutes before he walked into the surgical room. I thought that very odd. He visited once the next day for about 4 minutes in the hospital room and told me that I would be seeing Cathi when I came in for my 6 weeks checkup and would see him in 6 months. rnI WOULD RECOMMEND HIM TO ANYONE IN THE EAST TEXAS AREA. I WAS TOLD THAT HOSPITAL STAFF CHOOSE HIM AS THEIR SURGEON. THAT SPEAKS HIGHLY RIGHT THERE. AND I HAVE ONLY 5 LITTLE PUNCTURE HOLES THAT WILL NOT SHOW AT ALL IN A YEAR.

Bariatric surgery is a decision one should not take lightly. I had mine done in 2005 by Dr. Hugh Babineau. I've lost 178 pounds (and then some when you consider the yo-yo years since then). I've been sick since about two years post op. Prior to my surgery, I had severe and persistent anemia, probably most of my life. My labs concerning the anemia were low about a week before I had surgery so we repeated them and they were fine. Upon reading the original surgical report, I found there were omissions and out right untruths listed within the history and diagnoses portion. But that's not really the big deal. It would have been great to know about having Ehlers Danlos syndrome before having the surgery done, sure. But that's not the big deal either. No, the big deal happened last week when, after persistent anemia failed to be treated with OTC iron supplements - an upper endoscopy was ordered and performed. The gastroenterologist was surprised in regard to his findings as he explained what my stomach looked like in comparison to a regular stomach AND that of a roux en y patient. You see, I have neither. What I have is similar to a mini gastric bypass - a procedure not typically performed here, one most insurance companies do not cover and with good reason from what I gather. Without the additional manipulations, stomach juices have been back flowing into my 10% sized "stomach" for a decade now. I'll be on prilosec for the rest of my life OR may have to have a revision surgery. I've been put at a higher risk for both stomach and esophageal cancers, also. I think about my seven and eight year old children and how my poor health status has affected their lives, how continued complications will affect their lives.

Texas being Texas, there's really no recourse for me. I will do what I can; I will reach out to the appropriate credentialing agencies, any boards. the media, my two insurance companies at the time of the surgery, etc. This isn't ok. It wasn't a simple mistake and I pray that others haven't had the same experience.

Awesome experience! Well, the nurses at ETMC didn't hook my pain pump up right, so I had NO pain meds after surgery until midnight that night. Other than that I am totally happy with my experience and Tyler Bariatrics!

He is an awesome doctor i had my surgery on 2/13/12. Freda,Lindsay,Lynda and the rest of his staff are wonderful also thanks so much tyler bariatrics :)

Great Dr only complaint I have you never see him ever he always lets his nurse practitioner do the work and The worlds best nurse Lyndsay

I WANT TO TELL DR B THANK YOU ON JULY 18TH 2010 I WAS VOMITING BLOOD CALLED HIS OFFICE ABOUT 1 AM THEY CALLED HIM I FELT REALLY BAD ABOUT CALLING HIM ON A SUNDAY WELL HE CALLED ME BACK AND HELPED ME THANK YOU VERY MUCH SIR

I was banded in March of 2009 by Dr. Babineau. Everything went very well. I had confidence that he would do a good job and all has gone well.

The only complaint I have is that the post-op Pain medication I was given to take at home was NOT strong enough for my needs. Other people will probably not have this issue, but it was significant for me.

I've been back for a 2 week post op check, then at 6 weeks. Sometimes it's difficult to get an appointment exactly when you need it, but I've learned to deal with that by making appointments way ahead, and canceling 48 or more hours in advance if I don't need them.

I've not seen Dr. B. since surgery, other than passing him in the hallway, but that is fine with me as I'm not having issues that need his attention.

I've had fills done by Cathy and Lisa, both are great to work with. Have yet to go to a support group meeting, inconvenient for me, but am doing well without them.

Would I do this again? In a minute (but would insist on better pain coverage).

Dr. Babineau is a very proffesional and considerate doctor. I had a minor complication from my surgery and it was resolved without too much difficulty. The actual surgery was uneventful and my problem didn't result from any fault of the physician.